ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team had a quick turnaround from its Friday evening match, as the Lions got right back in action Saturday by hosting non-conference opponents Randolph College and Gallaudet University for a tri-match in Adler Arena on Saturday.

In the first match, Penn State Altoona (6-5) took care of Randolph, who the Lions faced last night, in three sets. Penn State Altoona ended its day with another sweep, beating Gallaudet 3-0.

Randolph defeated Gallaudet 3-0 in the middle match.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Randolph 0

The Lions picked up their first home sweep of the season, winning in three sets over Randolph (2-7) by scores of 25-23, 25-18, and 25-23.

Caleb Fries (Altoona, PA/Altoona) led the Penn State Altoona attack with 17 points on 15 kills and four block assists. Lucas Petrones (Oxford, PA/Avon Grover Charter) had 9.5 points on seven kills, one service ace, one solo block, and one block assist, and Michael Hansen (Palatine, IL/William Fremd) contributed 8.5 points on seven kills and a trio of block assists.

Owen Pratt (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen) added seven points on seven kills, and Landen Fisher (Altoona, PA/Altoona) chipped in 6.5 points on five block assists and four kills.

Mason Grover (Penfield, NY/Penfield) recorded a match-high 38 assists and also finished with three block assists, one solo block, one service ace, and one kill.

Adam Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) tallied a match-high 11 digs.

Penn State Altoona trailed 11-8 in the first set, but the Lions scored four points in a row after that, getting a pair of Randolph errors, a duo block from Fries and Hansen, and a Fries kill to take a 12-11 lead. The WildCats worked their way back in front, 17-15, but Penn State Altoona again responded with a run to surge ahead, scoring five points in a row to establish a 20-17 advantage. Randolph tied the score 23-23 late, but the Lions got a kill from Hansen and a WildCats attack error to win the set, 25-23.

The Lions carried their momentum into the second set, scoring eight of the first 11 points, including two Fries kills, one Hansen kill, and a combo block from Petrones and Hansen. Fisher and Fries teamed up on a block to give Penn State Altoona a six-point lead, 12-6, and back-to-back kills by Fries later in the set kept the difference at six, 18-12. The Lions scored four points in a row, including solo blocks from Petrones and Grover, to make it 23-16, and a Pratt kill got Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-18. Petrones served up an ace on the next play, and the Lions took the second set, 25-18.

Kills by Pratt, Hansen, Petrones, and Fries helped Penn State Altoona establish a 6-3 lead early in the third set. Randolph slowly worked its way back and took an 18-15 lead, but the Lions tied the score after a pair of WildCat errors and a Grover kill evened the set at 18-18. The visitors got back in front and held leads of 21-19 and 22-21, before Penn State Altoona leapt ahead, 24-22, following a Fisher kill, Randolph hitting error, and block from Fries and Fisher. One point later, Fries' kill clinched a 25-23 victory for Penn State Altoona, and the Lions earned a sweep to begin Saturday's tri-match.

Match Two: Penn State Altoona 3, Gallaudet 0

The Lions concluded Saturday's tri-match with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-16 sweep of Gallaudet (0-7).

Fries had 13 points for Penn State Altoona on seven kills, a match-high five service aces, and two block assists. Jack McKenna (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional), Petrones, and Pratt each had five points on five kills, and Fisher also scored five points on three kills, an ace, and two block assists.

Grover totaled 20 assists, and Zayden Tamashiro (McLean, VA/McLean) chipped in eight assists.

Chan led the Lions in digs with five.

Penn State Altoona got off to a slow start in the first set, as Gallaudet played its way to a 10-9 lead, but the Lions outscored the Bison 16-7 over the rest of the set to win it by eight. Back-to-back kills from Fries and Pratt put the home team up 12-10, and a Fries ace later made it 17-12. A four-point run by Penn State Altoona, capped by a Jacob Sandowski (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) ace, boosted its advantage to 22-15, and the Lions went on to win the set by a 25-17 margin.

Gallaudet held another early lead in the second set, when the Bison opened with an 11-7 advantage. After that, Penn State Altoona used a 9-2 run that included kills from Fries, Hansen, and Joshua Harclerode (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) to go up 16-13. A pair of Petrones kills made it 18-14, and a Harclerode kill later in the set got Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-21. Fries scored a kill one play later to hand the Lions a 25-22 victory in the second.

Penn State Altoona had its strongest start of the match in the third set, opening up an eight-point lead. Fisher, Pratt, and Hansen had early kills for the Lions, Fries served up two aces, and Tamashiro and Hansen combined for a block to make it 13-5. A kill from Jason Velez (Forest Hill, MD/Bel Air) made it 17-9, and a Gallaudet service error and two more Fries aces got Penn State Altoona's lead to 10 points, 20-10. Tamashiro got a kill to put the Lions' advantage at 22-10, before a Pratt kill and block by Brody Cocca (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South) and Tamashiro put Penn State Altoona at set point, 24-13. Three Gallaudet points later, Velez ended the match with a kill, securing the sweep for the Lions with a 25-16 third-set win.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball concludes its eight-match homestand on Thursday, February 13, when the Lions host non-conference foe Messiah University for a 7 p.m. match.