ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team overcame a 2-0 deficit during Wednesday night's match in the Adler Arena, but the Lions were unable to close the deal, suffering a 3-2 loss to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Hiram College.

Hiram (5-1, 4-0 AMCC) won the first two sets of the match by scores of 25-20 and 25-19, but Penn State Altoona (1-3, 1-2 AMCC) battled back to tie the match score, winning the next two sets 25-23 and 25-23. The Terriers came out victorious, however, topping the Lions 15-9 in the fifth set.

Penn State Altoona finished the match with 61 kills as a team, a total that tied for the seventh-most kills in five-set match in program history. The Lions also tallied 56 assists to tie for the eighth-most assists in a five-set match in team history.

Penn State Altoona's Philip Silva (Brazil/Richard Montgomery) tied for the match-high in kills and points with 22 and 24.0, respectively, while adding two solo blocks. Silva's total of 22 kills tied for the fifth-most kills in a match in Lions volleyball history, and it also tied for the third-most kills in a five-set match in team history. Additionally, his 50 attempts tied for the second-most in a five-set match and the fourth-most overall in a match in Lions history, and his 24.0 points tied for the eighth-most in a five-set match in program history.

Jared Bodisch (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) recorded 11 kills and 11 digs, while Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) also had 11 kills on a team-best .714 attack percentage. Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) led Penn State Altoona in digs with 12, tied for the team lead in blocks with two solos, and also racked up 10 kills.

Trey Sadler (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) added four kills and one block assist, and Abel Gebre (Palymra, PA/Palmyra) totaled three kills and one block assist.

Matthew Faust (New Oxford, PA/New Oxford) posted a team-high 29 assists to go along with 10 digs and one solo block, while Connor Baker (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) finished with 23 assists and one service ace.

Micah Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PA Cyber) registered 11 digs, and Payton Reed (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) chipped in five digs.

In the first set, Penn State Altoona dug itself out of an early 4-1 hole to tie the score 4-4 following two kills from Silva and a Hiram attack error. The Lions kept pace with the Terriers throughout the set, but never led on the scoreboard. But, tied 14-14 midway through the set, an 8-2 run by Hiram put the visitors up 22-16, and they went on to take the opening set by five points.

Hiram jumped out to an early lead again in the second set, establishing a 5-1 advantage. Penn State Altoona worked its way back and grabbed its first lead of the night, using an 8-2 run to go up 9-7. The run included three kills and a block from Perehinec, along with a Silva kill and Baker ace. But Hiram responded with a run of its own, outscoring the Lions 9-4 to get back on top, 16-13. Gebre's kill later in the set kept the difference at three, 20-17, but the Terriers scored five of the next seven points to win the second set by six.

Penn State Altoona posted its best statistical effort of the match in the third set, hitting .387 as a team while totaling 17 kills. After getting out to an 11-7 lead, the Lions found themselves locked in a tie, 20-20, late in the set. After a Hiram kill, Kish answered with a kill of his own to even the score at 21. The Terriers countered with another kill to grab the lead, but a service error cost Hiram a point on the next play and knotted the score 22-22. A solo block from Faust put Penn State Altoona on top, but the lead was brief, as the block was followed by a Hiram kill. However, the Lions used a Sadler kill to reclaim the lead, then won the set on an attack error to stay alive in the match.

The Lions kept their momentum rolling into the fourth set. Tied 12-12, Penn State Altoona embarked on a 6-2 run that included four Silva kills and one Perehinec kill to take an 18-14 lead. Down 22-21 later, Kish's kill evened the score at 22. After the Terriers notched a kill on the next play, a Hiram attack error gave the Lions a point that tied the score again. After that, back-to-back kills from Perehinec and Kish gave Penn State Altoona another win and forced a fifth set.

But Hiram bounced back in the fifth set, working its way out to an 8-3 advantage. Kills from Bodisch and Silva got Penn State Altoona back to within two points, 11-9, but the Terriers reeled off four straight points to close out the match.

Next up, Penn State Altoona men's volleyball will travel to western New York for AMCC matches on back-to-back days. On Friday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m., the Lions will face Hilbert College, and on Saturday, March 27 at 2:00 p.m., the team will take on Medaille College.