Lions Sweep Bearcats for Third Win
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball rolled to a 3-0 victory over Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Saint Vincent College on Wednesday evening in the Adler Arena.
The Lions (3-4, 3-3 AMCC) picked up comfortable wins in the first two sets of the match, prevailing by scores of 25-17 and 25-19. St. Vincent (2-6, 2-5 AMCC) made things interesting in the third, holding a lead for much of the set before Penn State Altoona came back to win it 28-26 and seal a sweep.
Philip Silva (Brazil/Richard Montgomery) had a team-high nine kills to go along with one solo block. Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) recorded eight kills and tied for the team-high in digs with six. Trey Sadler (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) led all Lions in blocks with two solos and one assist, and he also chipped in three digs and a pair of kills.
Jared Bodisch (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) tallied seven kills, five digs, one service ace, and one solo block, and Abel Gebre (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) had four kills, two digs, and one block assist. Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) added two kills, two digs, and an ace.
Matthew Faust (New Oxford, PA/New Oxford) totaled a team-best 14 assists to go along with four digs and one ace, and Connor Baker (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) added 13 assists, four digs, and an ace.
Micah Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PA/Cyber) tied for the team lead in digs with six while also recording one kill.
The first set of the match was close until Penn State Altoona pulled away midway through, and the Lions benefitted from 10 attack errors from the visitors. With the score tied 12-12, Penn State Altoona used a 9-1 run to work its way out to a 21-13 lead. The rally included two kills from Silva, as well as a kill and an ace by Kish and a kill from Gebre. After the Lions and Bearcats traded kills to set the score at 22-15, Penn State Altoona scored three of the next five overall points on St. Vincent miscues to win the set by eight points.
The second set followed a similar plot, with Penn State Altoona grabbing a lead in the middle portion of the set and holding it the rest of the way. With the score knotted 7-7, the Lions went on a 9-4 scoring run to take a five-point lead, 16-11. During that span, Penn State Altoona got a kill from both Bodisch and Silva, while the Bearcats committed seven errors. Up by five, 22-17, later in the set, the Lions their final three points on kills by Kish, Silva, and Perehinec to close things out and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, Penn State Altoona posted a match-high 14 kills as a team. St. Vincent led for much of the game, but the Lions avoided the loss and came back to win. Tied 9-9, the Bearcats went on a 6-2 run to stake out a 15-11 advantage. Penn State Altoona whittled away at its deficit and tied things up 19-19, following three straight points on Bodisch and Silva kills and a St. Vincent attack error. The Bearcats responded by outscoring the Lions 5-2 over the next seven points, putting the home team on the brink by holding a 24-21 lead. But a service error by the visitors and Sadler's solo block closed the gap to one, and following a timeout, a St. Vincent attack error evened the score at 24. The teams traded kills and errors over the next four points, keeping the score tied, 26-26. But Penn State Altoona finally got over the hump, getting back-to-back kills from Sadler and Bodisch to win the set and the match.
Penn State Altoona men's volleyball closes out its 2021 regular season schedule at home this Saturday, April 3, when the Lions will host AMCC opponent Penn State Behrend for a match beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Adler Arena.
The match will also be the program's Senior Day, including a pre-match recognition of Lions senior Perehinec.
