by Casey Burinskas

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – On Wednesday night, the Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team was on the road against non-conference opponent Wilson College, and the Lions rallied to come away with a 3-1 win in the Gannett Memorial Field House.

Wilson (5-10) pulled out a 27-25 victory in the opening set, but Penn State Altoona (9-7) responded with wins of 25-17, 25-14, and 25-16 to take the match in four sets.

The Lions got a match-high 17.5 points from Caleb Fries (Altoona, PA/Altoona) on 10 kills, six service aces – which tied for the third-highest total of aces in a match in team history – and a solo block and block assist. Jack McKenna (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) led Penn State Altoona in kills with 11 while adding two block assists, one solo block, and one ace for a total of 14 points. Landen Fisher (Altoona, PA/Altoona) had 10 points on seven kills, four block assists, and an ace.

Michael Hansen (Palatine, IL/William Fremd) added 9.5 points on seven kills, three block assists, and an ace, and Owen Pratt (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen) contributed 6.5 points on six kills and a block assist.

Mason Grover (Penfield, NY/Penfield) handled the setting duties, putting up a match-best 34 assists to go along with nine digs, three block assists, and a, kill.

Adam Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) tallied a match-high 16 digs while chipping in five assists. Fries also had a double-digit total of digs, finishing with 15.

In the first set, Wilson began to pull away early in the set, but Altoona responded with a kill from McKenna and two kills from Hansen. A kill from Pratt and an attack error coming from the Wilson side handed the Lions a lead of 10-7. Further into the set, Fisher entered with a kill, along with Fries, who put up another kill for Altoona. But with the Lions leading 23-19, the Phoenix scored five points in a row to go up 24-23. With a service error falling in from Wilson, along with a Pratt kill, Altoona was able to bring the score to a tie of 25-25. But despite its best efforts, Altoona still fell to Wilson in the first set, as the Phoenix won with a score of 27-25.

Starting the second set, Altoona began with an early lead. After getting kills from Fisher and Hansen, McKenna followed in their footsteps with two more kills. Another run opened with Fisher starting the trend with a kill, followed by two from McKenna and another from Fries. The duo of Fisher and Pratt put up a block, putting the score at 16-14 with the Lions slowly taking off with the lead. Coming down to the end, Altoona scored six points in a row, including two kills from Fries, one from McKenna, and one by Grover, to make it 23-15. With a final kill from McKenna, the Lions were able to tie the match score up at 1-1 and take the second set by a score of 25-17.

Down to the third set, Altoona got a block from Hansen and McKenna before a service ace fell in from Fries, and a kill from Pratt landed the Lions a quick lead of 7-3. Leading 11-9, the Lions scored seven points in a row, including three service aces from Fries and four errors from Wilson. Jacob Sandowski (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) landed another ace to put the Lions up 23-12, and with kills from Fisher and Lucas Petrones (Oxford, PA/Avon Grove Charter), Altoona took the third set with a score of 25-14.

Heading into the last set, Altoona came out strong with a 10-3 lead off the bat, starting with a kill from McKenna and a service ace from Fisher. Another service ace from Fries and a kill from Pratt landed the Lions a lead of 10-3. Continuing in the set, Grover found the placement for an ace against Wilson to make it 13-5, and a big block from Fisher and Fries and several attack errors coming in from the Phoenix made it 18-6. With a final ace from Hansen, the Lions were able to pull out a 3-1 win on the road with a score of 25-16 in the fourth set.

Next, the men's volleyball team will move on to Mount Aloysius College on Sunday, March 2, at 1 p.m. on the road. While Mount Aloysius is an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent, Sunday's match is a non-conference contest for both teams, with their league matchup happening later in the season.