Men’s Volleyball Loses Five-Setter to Thiel
by Christina Roukas
ALTOONA, Pa. – For the second straight match, the Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team came out on the wrong end of a five-set match, as the Lions lost 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10) to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Thiel College on Friday night in the Adler Arena.
In the first set, Willem Del Priore's (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) tip over tied the game, 3-3, followed by an ace from Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) to break the tie and hand the lead to the Lions (0-9. 0-3 AMCC). Thiel (6-7, 3-1 AMCC) tied the match with the next point, 4-4, and then took the lead. Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) served an ace to keep the Lions within three, 11-9, and Penn State Altoona came back to tie the match 12-12 on a block by Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) and Ferry. Thiel broke the tie once again and took the lead, but Del Priore's kill kept Penn State Altoona within one, 17-16. However, Thiel eventually won the first set 25-17.
In the second set, Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) scored an early kill to make it 1-1, followed by a tip over from Kish and a dump over from Del Priore to give the Lions a 3-1 lead. Kish provided a point once again with a back row kill that made it 8-6, and Connor Ebersole's (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) kill extended the Lions' lead to three, 16-13. A block from Farabaugh made it 18-16, and Del Priore scored the set point with a kill to help Penn State Altoona win the second set, 25-21.
Farabaugh's kill early in the third set gave Penn State Altoona a 4-2 lead, but Thiel came back to tie the score, 6-6. Farabaugh's back row kill broke the tie, but the set became tight, with the lead bouncing back and forth between both teams. After Thiel took a 12-11 lead, Kish's kill tied things up on the next point, and his solo block put the Lions in front, 13-12. Kish's ace increased the Lions' lead to 21-16, and Ebersole's kill got Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-19. The Lions won the third set 25-20, grabbing the lead in the match.
In the fourth set, Lions scored the first two points until Thiel came back to take a 4-3 lead. Vang's block helped Penn State Altoona go up 9-7, but the Tomcats answered again by tying the score, 11-11. Penn State Altoona took a 12-11 lead, and Kish scored a kill to extend it to 15-13. Thiel came back again to tie things up, 17-17, but the Lions regained the lead, 21-18. Thiel responded by jumping back in front, 23-22, before Del Priore's kill kept the Lions in the set, evening the score 23-23. But Thiel scored the next two points to win the fourth set 25-23 and tie the match at two sets apiece.
In the fifth set, Ebersole's kill broke a 2-2 tie to give Penn State Altoona the lead. Thiel worked its way to a 7-5 lead, and despite three late kills by Farabaugh, the Tomcats won the fifth set 15-10 to prevail in the match.
Farabaugh led all players in the match with a season-high 19 points and 17 kills, adding 11 digs, two block assists, and one solo block. Kish contributed 13.5 points on nine kills, three solo blocks, and one block assist to go along with 10 digs and one service ace. Del Priore had 11 points on 10 kills and a solo block while recording nine digs, and Ebersole finished with eight points on six kills and two solo blocks.
Vang put up a match-high 38 assists, and he also tallied 17 digs, two service aces, two block assists, one solo block, and a kill.
Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) totaled a season-high 19 digs to lead Penn State Altoona in that category. Ferry had a match-high five block assists while serving up one ace.
The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team heads back on the road for is next match, facing AMCC opponent Geneva College on Tuesday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m.
