BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team continued its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule on Tuesday evening, when the Lions suffered a 3-0 loss to Geneva College in the Metheny Fieldhouse.

Geneva (6-8, 3-0 AMCC) held off Penn State Altoona (0-10, 0-4 AMCC) in the opening set by a decision of 25-20, then proceeded to win the next two by scores of 25-16 and 25-19.

Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) led Penn State Altoona in points and kills, recording 9.5 points on eight kills, a service ace, and a block assist. Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) had nine points on seven kills and a team-high three total blocks, recording two block assists and one solo block, while adding eight digs.

Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had six kills and a block assist, Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hillard Darby) finished with seven digs, four kills, and a block assist, and Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) notched a pair of block assists.

Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) tallied a match-high 24 assists to go along with five digs, two kills, and a block assist.

Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) led Penn State Altoona in digs with 12.

Farabaugh and Ferry combined for a block early in the first set to tie the score at 2-2. Geneva jumped ahead by three points shortly thereafter, but a 3-0 run by the Lions erased their deficit, getting kills from Vang and Del Priore along the way that helped even the score at 7-7. One point later, Ebersole's kill kept things tied up, 8-8, but the Golden Tornadoes followed with an 8-1 run take their largest lead of the set, 16-9. Penn State Altoona battled back to close the gap to two, helped by four straight points on kills from Ebersole, Kish, and Farabaugh and an ace from Del Priore to cut Geneva's lead to 20-18. Another Farabaugh kill kept the Lions within two, 22-20, later in the set, but the home team rattled off three consecutive points to win the opening set by five.

Geneva worked its way to a big lead in the second set, as the Golden Tornadoes led by as many as 12 points, 22-10. A 6-1 Penn State Altoona run that included Ebersole and Vang each recording kills while also teaming up for a block brought the Lions to within seven, 23-16. But Geneva scored kills on the next two points to close the set, winning it by nine points and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

With the score tied 5-5 in the third set, Geneva leapt in front and grew its lead to six, 15-9, by the middle stages. Penn State Altoona scored five of the next seven points to make it a three-point difference, 17-14, following a Del Priore kill. Three kills by Farabaugh in the span of four points helped the Lions trim their deficit to 19-17, and one point later, a Geneva service error kept the Lions within two, 20-18. But the Golden Tornadoes closed the set on a 5-1 run, prevailing by six and taking the match in three.

Next up, Penn State Altoona will head back to Huntingdon, Pa. this weekend to compete in a pair of matches as part of the Eagles Invite. On Friday, February 17, the Lions will face the weekend's hosts, No. 1 Juniata, at 7 p.m. Penn State Altoona's second and final match at Juniata is Saturday, February 18, when it takes on Elizabethtown College at 3 p.m.