ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team hosted an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tri-match on Saturday in the Adler Arena with conference opponents Mount Aloysius College and Geneva College.

Penn State Altoona (2-15, 2-5 AMCC) started the day with a 3-0 sweep of Mount Aloysius, before losing 3-1 to Geneva in the Lions' second and final match.

In the middle match of the tri-match, Geneva swept Mount Aloysius 3-0, winning by scores of 28-26, 25-18, and 25-15.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Mount Aloysius 0

Penn State Altoona picked up its second win of the season by sweeping AMCC opponent Mount Aloysius (4-8, 0-5 AMCC) by scores of 25-17, 26-24, and 25-20.

Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) totaled a match-high 14 points for Penn State Altoona with 12 kills, a solo block, and a service ace while adding five digs. Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) had 10.5 points on 10 kills and a block assist, and he also contributed six digs.

Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) led all players in the match with 26 assists to go along with four digs and solo block.

Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) had a match-high seven digs, and Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) led the Lions' defensive efforts at the net with a solo block and a block assist while chipping in four kills.

The opening set was tight until Penn State Altoona went on a run midway through to pull away in the end. With the score tied 9-9, the Lions embarked on a 9-3 run to establish an 18-12 advantage. Penn State Altoona increased its lead to as many as eight points in the closing points, and late kills by Vang and Kish helped put the finishing touches on a 25-17 first-set win.

Penn State Altoona pulled out a close win in a tightly contested second set. With the score tied 21-21, a kill and solo block by Ebersole put the Lions ahead by two points, but Mount Aloysius responded with three consecutive points to get to set point, 24-23. However, a service error by the Mounties on the next point kept Penn State Altoona alive, and the Lions scored the next two points on a Kish kill and Vang solo block to grab a 26-24 victory.

The Lions secured a lead midway through the third set and maintained it for the remainder of the game to clinch the sweep of their nearby conference foes. Two kills by Farabaugh in the middle stages of the set helped Penn State Altoona boost its lead to 18-13. Later, another Farabaugh kill got the Lions to set point, 24-20, and a Mounties attack error on the next point provided the match-winning point for Penn State Altoona.

Match Two: Geneva 3, Penn State Altoona 1

Penn State Altoona wrapped up the tri-match against Geneva (12-11, 8-0 AMCC), the first place team in the AMCC standings. The Golden Tornadoes took the first set 25-15, but the Lions battled back to tie the match score with a 25-20 victory in the second set. However, Geneva earned wins of 25-19 and 25-23 in the third and fourth sets to hand the Lions a 3-1 defeat.

Kish led Penn State Altoona with 16 points on 16 kills, and he also tallied six digs. Farabaugh posted 12 points on nine kills and a team-high three solo blocks, and Ebersole totaled 10.5 points on seven kills, two solo blocks, and one block assist. Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) added four kills and a solo block, and he put up a team-high 10 digs.

Vang finished with a match-high 35 assists, a team-leading three service aces, six digs, one kill, one solo block, and one block assist.

Winter contributed seven digs, and Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) posted one solo block to go along with one kill and one ace.

Penn State Altoona came out with momentum in the first set, as the Lions got out to a 7-6 lead that was highlighted by four kills from Kish during that span. But Geneva used a 5-0 run to jump ahead, and the visitors grew their lead later in the set to eventually win it by 10 points, 25-15.

In the second set, Penn State Altoona bounced back to open up with a big lead of their own, scoring 16 of the opening 24 points. The Lions started the set with a 5-1 lead, getting kills from Kish and Ebersole and solo blocks from Ebersole and Del Priore along the way. Penn State Altoona went on to outscore Geneva 11-7 over the next 18 points, including three consecutive aces from Vang, to double their lead to eight points. The Golden Tornadoes fought back to close the gap to one, 20-19, but the Lions increased their breathing room with four straight points on kills from Ferry and Kish, a solo block by Farabaugh, and a Geneva attack error. After a Geneva block, a service error by the visitors closed out the second set in favor of Penn State Altoona, 25-20.

Penn State Altoona dug itself into hole in the third set, as Geneva worked its way out to a 19-9 advantage. After that, a kill from Kish, back-to-back solo blocks by Ebersole and Farabaugh, and a Geneva attack error brought the Lions back to within six, 19-13. But Penn State Altoona was unable to get any closer than six points the rest of the way, as the Golden Tornadoes won the set 25-19 to reclaim their lead in the match.

The fourth set was tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than three points. Down 14-13, Penn State Altoona scored three straight points on kills from Ebersole and Farabaugh and a Geneva ball handling error to jump in front, 16-14. Later, a kill by Del Priore and a Ferry ace gave the Lions a 20-17 advantage. After Geneva responded with three consecutive points to tie the set 20-20, back-to-back kills by Kish put the Lions back on top. The visitors again reeled off three straight points to leap ahead, 23-22, before Ebersole ended the run with a kill to knot the score at 23. But Geneva scored the next two points to nab a 25-23 win in the fourth set and take the match three sets to one.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball returns to action on Wednesday, March 15, facing AMCC opponent Saint Vincent College at home in the Adler Arena at 7:00 p.m.