ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team hosted a tri-match with non-conference opponents Wilkes University and Saint Vincent College on Saturday in Adler Arena, and the Lions suffered a pair of losses on the day.

Penn State Altoona (3-4) took a 3-2 loss to Wilkes in its first match of the day before falling 3-1 to St. Vincent in the nightcap. Wilkes defeated St. Vincent 3-2 in the middle match.

Match One: Wilkes 3, Penn State Altoona 2

by Casey Burinskas

Penn State Altoona started its day with a five-set loss to Wilkes (3-7). The Lions won the first set 25-22, before the Colonels answered with a 25-16 victory in the second set. Wilkes took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-19 triumph in the third set, before Penn State Altoona stayed alive with a 25-19 win in the fourth. But the visitors took the fifth set 15-12 to post a 3-2 victory over the Lions.

Penn State Altoona's Caleb Fries (Altoona, PA/Altoona) scored 27.5 points, tying for the third-most in a match in team history, on 22 kills, four service aces, one solo block, and one block assist. Fries' total of 22 kills also tied for the seventh-most in a match by a Lions player.

Lucas Petrones (Oxford, PA/Avon Grove Charter) had 12.5 points on 12 kills and a block assist, Jack McKenna (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) scored 11 points on 11 kills, and Owen Pratt (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen) had seven points on six kills and a solo block. Michael Hansen (Palatine, IL/William Fremd) added five points on two kills, two solo blocks, and two block assists.

Mason Grover (Penfield, NY/Penfield) tallied a match-high 48 assists.

Fries led the Lions in digs with a match-high 13, and Pratt totaled 10 digs. Adam Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) contributed nine digs.

In the first set, the first points from the Altoona side were from Fries, who delivered a kill from an assist by Grover. Beginning to take the lead, a block error from Wilkes and a kill from Pratt helped the Lions to a two-point advantage. Later, two service errors falling in from Wilkes allowed Altoona to gain some much-needed points. Two balls set up from Grover allowed Fries and Petrones to place kills and take the lead once again. The first service ace from Fries came in to give the Lions an 18-16 lead, and two late kills from Fries allowed Altoona to close out the first set with a score of 25-22.

Starting the second set, Wilkes took off with the first six points of the game before Fries came in with the Lions' first point on a kill. Altoona later went on a run of five points with kills from Fries and Petrones, a service ace from Fries, and two attack errors by Wilkes, narrowing the Colonels' lead to 12-7. A kill from Hansen and a kill from McKenna helped the Lions regain their strength and close the gap to 14-9. Late kills from Petrones and Hansen almost had the Lions catching up, but the errors caught up to them and allowed Wilkes to take the second set with a score of 25-16.

Opening the third set, Altoona put up two kills from Petrones to make it 2-2. A solo block from Fries and a kill from McKenna added to the score, which allowed Altoona to hold an early 4-3 lead. Midway through the set, with Wilkes now leading, a block coming up from Hansen and two kills from McKenna kept the Lions within four, 19-15. Despite late kills from Fries and Pratt, Altoona fell to Wilkes in the third set by a final score 25-19.

For the fourth set, Altoona started off strong with a 12-6 lead, including three straight points from Fries on two aces and a kill, a kill from McKenna, and a big block from Pratt. Another kill by McKenna kept the Lions ahead, 15-10. Late in the set, two kills from Fries preceded McKenna's kill that allowed Altoona to take the set by a score of 25-19, sending the match to a fifth and final set.

Starting the fifth set, Altoona got early kills from Fries and McKenna to work its way to a 5-5 tie, but Wilkes went on a 7-0 run to establish a 12-5 advantage. Kills by Fries and Pratt and a solo block from Hansen made it 12-8, before two kills from Pratt, a Fries kill, and a block from Fries and Hansen brought the score up to 13-12, with the Lions trailing by one. But, despite Altoona's best efforts, Wilkes was able to put up two more points and take the win over Altoona in the fifth set, 15-12.

Match Two: St. Vincent 3, Penn State Altoona 1

The Lions dug themselves a hole that they were unable to climb out of in their second and final match of the day. St. Vincent (2-4) won the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-17, before Penn State Altoona finally got on the board with a 25-22 victory in the third. But the Bearcats prevailed 25-17 in the fourth to pick up a four-set win over the Lions.

Fries had a team-best 14.5 points for Penn State Altoona on 11 kills, three service aces, and a block assist, while McKenna totaled 11.5 points on 10 kills, one solo block, and one block assist.

Pratt contributed eight points on seven kills and an ace, Jacob Sandowski (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) had seven points on four kills, two solo blocks, and an ace, and Hansen posted six points on five kills and two block assists.

Grover led the Lions in assists with 37, while Chan led in digs with 10.

St. Vincent opened the first set with a strong lead, scoring the first six points in a row and later going ahead by as many as seven. The Lions were hurt by errors in the set, including committing 12 attack errors. Penn State Altoona closed the gap to four, 18-14, during the set, after back-to-back kills from Sandowski and Hansen. The Lions recorded late kills from Pratt, Fries, and Sandowski, but the Bearcats took the first set by five points, 25-20.

The second set began in similar fashion to the first, as St. Vincent scored six points in a row early in the game and established an 8-2 advantage. Penn State Altoona used an 8-3 run midway through the set to get back to within one, 13-12, including getting two Fries aces, kills by Fries, Sandowski, McKenna, and Hansen, and a block from Fries and Hansen. Leading 19-16 late, the Bearcats pulled away to win the set by eight points, 25-17.

Trailing by five in the third set, Penn State Altoona made a late push to rally ahead and win it. Down 17-12, a block from McKenna and Hansen, a St. Vincent attack error, and a kill from McKenna narrowed the Lions' deficit to three, 18-15. Later, Penn State Altoona scored three straight points on a Fries kill, St. Vincent error, and Hansen kill to get to within one, 20-19, of the visitors' lead. One point later, Fries' kill preceded a pair of Pratt kills that gave Penn State Altoona a 22-21 advantage. After a St. Vincent kill tied the score, the Lions scored three straight points to win the set, getting a Fries kill, Pratt ace, and Bearcat attack error to take the third, 25-22.

But St. Vincent took an early lead in the fourth set and never relinquished it the rest of the way. After Penn State Altoona picked up the first two points on Bearcat attack errors, the visitors went on a 6-1 run to go up by three. The Lions got kills from Fries and McKenna over the next several points, but St. Vincent continued to expand its advantage, increasing it to six points, 15-9. Penn State Altoona got kills from Fries, Petrones, and McKenna, along with a Sandowski ace, later in the set, by St. Vincent upped its lead to as many as nine points and won the fourth set 25-17.

Next up, Penn State Altoona men's volleyball continues its early-season homestand on Tuesday, February 4, hosting non-conference opponent Chatham University for a match starting at 7 p.m.