Lions Cap Season with Home Sweep of Wells
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team ended its 2023 schedule on a winning note, sweeping Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Wells College 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in Adler Arena.
The Lions (5-19, 5-8 AMCC) overcame a deficit in the first set to pull out a 28-26 victory, and Penn State Altoona handled Wells (4-19, 1-12 AMCC) in the next two sets, winning them by scores of 25-17 and 25-9.
Penn State Altoona's Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) led all players in the match in points, kills, and service aces, finishing the day with 14 points on 11 kills and three aces while tying for the team lead in digs with eight. Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) totaled 12 points on 10 kills, two block assists, and one solo block, and Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) accumulated 11 points on six kills and a match-best seven total blocks, recording three solo blocks and four block assists.
Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) had seven points on five kills, an ace, and a solo block while adding seven digs. Shane Evans (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield) scored four points on four kills.
Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) put up a match-leading 31 assists to go along with seven digs, two solo blocks, two block assists, and a kill
Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) tied for the team-high in digs with eight.
Wells worked its way out to a six-point lead in the opening set, going up by scores of 13-7, 14-8, and 15-9. But Penn State Altoona awoke to go on a 9-3 run that tied the score 18-18, getting two kills from Farabaugh and one apiece from Vang, Del Priore, and Kish during the rally. With the score tied 20-20, Vang's solo block and kills by Kish and Ebersole gave Penn State Altoona a three-point lead. Wells came back to tie the score, however, and the Lions and Express traded points to eventually find themselves deadlocked at 26-26. But Penn State Altoona scored the next two points to close the set, using a Kish kill and Ebersole solo block to win 28-26.
In the second set, Penn State Altoona got off to a much stronger start en route to a 17-7 advantage. Evans' kill kept the Lions up by 10 points, 22-12, in the latter stages of the set, and another Ebersole solo stuff got Penn State Altoona to set point, 24-15. After the Express scored the next two points to get their deficit down to seven, a kill by Kish provided the winning point to help Penn State Altoona achieve a 25-17 second-set victory.
Penn State Altoona had its best hitting performance during the third set, when the Lions posted a .389 attack percentage as a team while also capitalizing on 11 Wells attack errors. Leading 15-8, Penn State Altoona widened the gap to 12 with a 5-0 run that consisted of two Del Priore kills, one kill by Kish, an Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) ace, and a duo block by Kish and Ebersole. Del Priore's solo block got the Lions to set point, and a Wells attack error provided the winning point in a 25-9 win in the third set.
