Lions Lose Five-Set Match to Terriers
by Christina Roukas
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team lost 3-0 (19-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16, 15-12) to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Hiram College on Tuesday night in Adler Arena.
In the first set, Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) scored a kill to narrow a Penn State Altoona (0-8, 0-2 AMCC) deficit to one, 3-2, and another kill from Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) tied the score at 4-4. The Lions scored five of the next six points to grab a four-point advantage, and Connor Ebersole's (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) block extended his team's lead to 10-5. Later, Del Priore's kill put Penn State Altoona's lead at 20-16, and two aces in a row by Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) made it 24-19. Avery Farabaugh's (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) kill closed the first set in favor of the Lions, 25-19.
In the second set, Hiram (3-5, 2-0 AMCC) started with a 2-0 lead until the Lions came back to score the next three straight points. Farabaugh followed with an ace, then a kill from Del Priore put Penn State Altoona up 5-2. Hiram came back to grab a 13-12 lead, and after Kish's kill evened the score at 13, the Terriers responded with a 7-1 run to go up 20-14. Del Priore's kill put the Lions behind by five, 20-15, but Penn State Altoona was unable to make up any more ground, as Hiram won the second set 25-17.
In the third set, Del Priore's kill extended an early Lions lead to 4-1, and a back row kill from Kish made it 10-5. Ebersole's solo block extended Penn State Altoona's lead to seven, 12-5. Hiram closed the gap to three points later in the set, but kills by Farabaugh and Kish helped the Lions get to set point, 24-19. Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) provided the set-winning kill for the Lions, who prevailed 25-21.
Trailing 6-3 early in the fourth set, Del Priore's block got the Lions within two, 6-4. Vang's kill and an ace from Farabaugh kept the Hiram lead at two points, 11-9, until the Terriers scored the next three points to widen the gap to five. Shane Evans (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield) served an ace to pull the Lions back to within 14-11, but Hiram answered by growing its lead as high as nine points. Kish scored a kill late in the set for the Lions, but Hiram took the fourth set 25-16, sending the match to a fifth set.
Hiram opened the fifth set by working its way out to a 6-1 lead. Three kills from Kish helped the Lions come back to narrow their deficit to 8-7, but Hiram maintained its lead the rest of the way and won the fifth set 15-12 to claim the match victory.
The Lions' Kish had match-highs with 15 points on 15 kills to go along with seven digs. Farabaugh contributed 13 points on 10 kills and a team-high three service aces while adding six digs. Del Priore had 11 points on 10 kills and a solo block while recording 11 digs.
Vang finished with a team-high 32 assists and 13 digs while serving up a pair of aces.
Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) totaled seven digs while chipping in six assists, and Ebersole led the Lions in blocks with three solos.
The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team's next match is home against AMCC foe Thiel College on Friday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m.
