Behrend Rallies Past Lions in Regular Season Finale
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball appeared poised to earn an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win in its last match of the regular season on Saturday evening, but rival Penn State Behrend overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Lions 3-2 in the Adler Arena.
Penn State Altoona (3-5, 3-4 AMCC) bounced back from a slow start in the match's opening set to prevail 25-23, and the Lions battled their way to a 26-24 victory in the second set. However, Behrend (5-6, 4-3 AMCC) fought back to win the match by taking the next three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-21, and 15-11.
Penn State Altoona recognized senior Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) in a pre-match ceremony, as part of the team's Senior Day festivities. Perehinec finished the match with 10 kills, 10 digs, and one block assist.
Philip Silva (Brazil/Richard Montgomery) led the team in kills and points, tallying 17 kills and three block assists to total 18.5 points. Jared Bodisch (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) contributed 13 kills and 14 kills while tying for the match-high in service aces with two.
Trey Sadler (Grantville, PA/Lower Dauphin) and Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) each finished with three solo blocks and one block assist to tie for the team lead in total blocks. Sadler also accounted for eight kills and four digs, while Kish had six kills. Abel Gebre (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) added four kills, two digs, and one solo block.
Matthew Faust (New Oxford, PA/New Oxford) led the Lions in assists, tying his career-high with 29 assists to go along with five digs. Connor Baker (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) finished with 19 assists and eight digs.
Micah Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PA Cyber) led Penn State Altoona in digs with a career-high 16.
The Lions dug themselves into an early hole in the first set, only to go on a run and pull out a win. Penn State Altoona started slow, as Behrend constructed an 8-2 lead in the set. But the Lions outscored the visitors 18-11 over the next 29 points, including a 10-4 run that turned their six-point deficit into a tie game. Behrend reclaimed the lead late, getting a kill to go up by one point, 22-21. But a service error and a Perehinec kill got Penn State Altoona back on top. After another kill by the visitors made it a one-point score, 24-23, Silva's kill finished things off in the first set to help deliver a win for the Lions.
Behrend held a lead for much of the first half of the second set, before Penn State Altoona fought back and pulled out a win. Trailing 12-8, the Lions got four straight points on a Silva kill, Bodisch ace, Kish block, and Behrend attack error to even the score. Back-to-back attack errors by the visitors several points later helped Penn State Altoona to work ahead, 17-15, and kills on consecutive points from Bodisch kept the Lions' lead at one, 22-21, later in the set. With the score tied 23-23 following a timeout, the teams traded points before Perehinec's kill and an attack error propelled the Lions to a 26-24 win in the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Penn State Altoona opened the third set by building a strong lead, as the Lions got their way out to a 10-4 advantage. But Behrend used a 10-4 run of its own to tie the score 14-14, and things remained close through the rest of the set. With the score knotted at 22, Behrend secured the set win by scoring three straight points on a kill, attack error, and ball handling error.
Behrend kept its momentum going into the fourth set, when the visitors opened up with a 10-6 lead. Penn State Altoona went on a 5-1 run to tie the score 11-11, capping the run with an ace from Bodisch. Later, with the score tied 20-20, three straight kills from Behrend gave the visitors a three-point lead, and they proceeded to win two of the next three points to tie the match score at 2-2 and force a fifth set.
With the score tied 5-5 in the fifth, Behrend pulled away for the win. A 6-1 run by the visitors put them ahead 11-6, en route to a four-point win that clinched the match victory for Behrend.
With the regular season now behind it, the Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team will await final word on seeding for the upcoming AMCC Tournament. The conference's postseason tournament is slated to begin this upcoming Wednesday, April 7.
