ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team recorded its first victory of the season on Saturday afternoon in a tri-match hosted by Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Penn State Behrend in the Junker Center.

Penn State Altoona (1-14, 1-4 AMCC) put one in the win column for the first time this season in its first match of the day, rallying from two sets down to defeat AMCC foe Penn State Behrend 3-2. In the Lions' second match, the team fell 3-0 to non-conference opponent Baldwin Wallace University.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Penn State Behrend 2

Penn State Behrend (8-3, 6-1 AMCC) appeared poised to win the match, after taking the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 27-25. But Penn State Altoona fought back, staying alive with a 25-23 win in the third, evening the match score with a 25-22 victory in the fourth, and securing the victory with a 15-12 triumph in the fifth.

Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) led the way for Penn State Altoona with a season-high 19.5 points and 19 kills while adding 10 digs and a block assist. Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) also had season-best point and block totals, finishing with 13.5 points and seven total blocks (two solo blocks, five block assists), and recording eight kills, six digs, and one service ace.

Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) finished with 16 points on 13 kills, two aces, and two block assists, and Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) had 11 points on eight kills, two aces, and two block assists while posting a season-best 19 digs.

Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) tallied a season-high 39 assists to go along with eight digs, a pair of block assists, and an ace.

Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) contributed 14 digs, and Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) had two block assists and two kills.

Penn State Altoona found itself tied 10-10 with Behrend in the first set, before the home team reeled off four straight points to take a 14-10 lead, prompting a Lions timeout. Behrend was able to increase its advantage to five, 17-12, and it never relinquished the lead the rest of the set.

Penn State Altoona again trailed by four points midway through the second set, before the Lions battled back to make things close late. Down 23-20, Farabaugh's kill and a Behrend attack error narrowed Penn State Altoona's deficit to one, and following a timeout, another Behrend error tied the score at 23-23. An Altoona service error put Behrend in front again, but back-to-back kills from Kish got the Lions to set point, 25-24. However, Behrend scored the next three points to pull out a tight win in the second set.

The Lions trailed by as many as five points in the third set before coming back to win it. Down 17-12, Penn State Altoona outscored Behrend 10-2 over the next 12 points to jump ahead, 22-19. Kills by Ferry and Farabaugh got Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-23, and Del Priore's kill provided the winning point to put the Lions on the board in the match, making it 2-1.

Penn State Altoona pulled out a tightly-contested win in the fourth set. Behrend led for much of the set, but the home team's lead was slight, as the Lions stayed within striking distance. Down 19-18, Penn State Altoona scored three straight points on a service error, a Del Priore kill, and a duo block from Vang and Ebersole to go up 21-19. Behrend worked its way back to tie the score 22-22, but the Lions scored three points in a row on an Ebersole solo stuff, a Farabaugh kill, and a Ferry and Farabaugh combo block to tie the match at two sets apiece.

In the fifth set, Penn State Altoona ran up an early lead and then held on to win. The Lions won seven of the set's first nine points, before Behrend pulled back to tie the score 12-12. But Penn State Altoona bounced back, getting a kill from Ebersole and a Behrend attack error to get to 14-12, before Farabaugh's kill put the finishing touches on the match win by providing the winning point.

Match Two: Baldwin Wallace 3, Penn State Altoona 0

Penn State Altoona took on non-conference foe Baldwin Wallace (13-3) in the Lions' second and final match of the day, and the Yellow Jackets prevailed in three sets by scores of 25-15, 25-17, and 25-21.

Del Priore posted a team-high 8.5 points on eight kills and a block assists, and he also tallied a team-high six digs. Farabaugh and Kish recorded six points apiece, with Farabaugh totaling five kills and two block assists and Kish finishing with five kills and a solo block. Ebersole had five points on three kills, two block assists, and one solo block.

Vang put up 21 assists while adding a pair of block assists for the Lions.

Penn State Altoona started the first set with a 3-1 lead, following kills by Ebersole and a duo block from Ebersole and Vang. Baldwin Wallace tied the score 4-4, but Del Priore's kill put the Lions back up on the next point. However, the Yellow Jackets embarked on a 13-4 run to turn their one-point deficit into a 17-9 lead. Still down by eight late in the set, back-to-back kills from Ferry made it 20-14, but Baldwin Wallace outscored the Lions 5-1 the rest of the way to take the opening set by 10 points.

In the second set, the Lions never led, as Baldwin Wallace scored four of the first five points and worked its way out to a 14-7 advantage. The Yellow Jackets held a lead of as many as 10 points and finished the set with an eight-point victory.

Penn State Altoona and Baldwin Wallace played to a 7-7 tie through the first 14 points, as the Lions got two kills from Del Priore and one apiece from Farabaugh and Kish during that span. However, Baldwin Wallace scored 10 of the next 15 points to construct a 17-12 advantage. Penn State Altoona closed the gap later in the set, when Del Priore's kill narrowed the Lions' deficit to 20-17. Penn State Altoona was again able to stay within three points following a triple block from Ferry, Farabaugh, and Vang that made it 23-20, and a Farabaugh kill put the score at 24-21. But Baldwin Wallace scored the next point to win the set by four and sweep the Lions in the match.

Next up, Penn State Altoona will return home to continue its AMCC schedule next Saturday, March 4, when the Lions will host a tri-match with conference opponents Mount Aloysius College and Geneva College. That day, the Lions will face Mount Aloysius at 11 a.m. and Geneva at 3 p.m., with Mount and Geneva playing each other in the 1 p.m. match.