BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team started its 2021 schedule on Wednesday evening, suffering a 3-2 loss to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Geneva College in the Metheny Fieldhouse.

The Lions (0-1, 0-1 AMCC) battled to a 27-25 victory in the match's opening set before Geneva (5-5, 1-0 AMCC) bounced back to take the second set 25-21. Penn State Altoona grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-19 win in the third set, but the Golden Tornadoes rallied for a 25-23 win in the fourth set, then earned a 15-11 victory in the fifth to take the match.

In the match, Penn State Altoona notched several new entries into the program's single match record books as a team. The Lions finished the night with the fourth-most assists in a five-set match (61), tied for the fourth-most digs in a five-set match (64), the fifth-most assists in any length match (61), tied for the fifth-most kills in a five-set match (63), and tied for the seventh-most kills in any length match (63).

Philip Silva (Brazil/Richard Montgomery) posted a match-high 19 kills for Penn State Altoona, swung at a .300 clip, and tied for the team-high in total blocks with two solo blocks and one block assist. His total of 19 kills tied for the sixth-most in a five-set match in team history, and his match-best 21.5 points tied for the 10th-most in a five-set match in program history.

Jared Bodisch (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) recorded 13 kills and 10 digs, and Abel Gebre (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) had a career-high 11 kills and eight digs. Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) and Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) each finished with nine kills and three total blocks, with Perehinec totaling one solo block and two block assists while Kish tallied three block assists. Perehinec also tied for the team lead in digs with 12.

Connor Baker (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) led Penn State Altoona in assists and service aces with 28 and two, respectively, to go along with six digs, and Matthew Faust (New Oxford, PA/New Oxford) posted career-bests with 27 assists and 11 digs.

Payton Reed (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) tied for the team-high in digs with 12 while chipping in three assists.

The opening set proved to be a tightly-contested battle between the two conference opponents, with the teams finding themselves tied 16-16 midway through. After that, a three-point run by the Golden Tornadoes helped the home team build a 19-16 lead, prompting a Penn State Altoona timeout. Later, down 22-20, the Lions used a Geneva service error and back-to-back kills from Gebre to knot the score 23-23. Down 24-23, Kish's kill and a Geneva attack error put the Lions ahead by one, 25-24. After a Geneva kill, Silva's kill put Penn State Altoona back up by one, and a combo block from Kish and Perehinec finished things off for the Lions in the first set.

Geneva responded by winning the second set to tie the match score. After Gebre's kill evened the set score at 9-9, the Golden Tornadoes ripped off a 6-0 run to jump ahead 15-9. Later in the set, a kill from Perehinec, two in a row from Bodisch, and a Geneva error cut the home team's lead to 18-16. But the Golden Tornadoes finished the set by outscoring Penn State Altoona 7-5, earning the final two points on miscues by the Lions.

Penn State Altoona bounced back to win the third set by a six-point margin. Down 2-1, the Lions reeled off a 9-3 run that included kills from Silva, Gebre, Bodisch, and Kish, as well as a solo block from Perehinec and an ace from Baker. Another ace from Baker later in the set helped Penn State Altoona to a seven-point lead, 19-12, and kills from Gebre and Bodisch kept the difference at seven, 21-14. The Lions' final four points of the set came from kills by Kish and Bodisch, along with a pair of Geneva service errors.

The Lions nearly closed things out in the fourth set when they held a late lead. Silva's kill and solo block, followed by a Geneva setting error, put Penn State Altoona up by two, 21-19. After the home team countered by grabbing a 23-22 advantage, Perehinec's kill knotted things up, 23-23. But two errors from Penn State Altoona helped Geneva take the win in the fourth to force a fifth set.

Penn State Altoona opened the fifth by taking a 2-1 lead, following kills from Kish and Silva, and Perehinec's kill kept the score tied 3-3. But Geneva scored four out of the next five points to take a 7-4 advantage into a timeout, then worked its way out to a 12-7 lead. Two Perehinec kills and one Silva kill helped the Lions narrow their deficit to two, 13-11, but consecutive kills from Geneva ended the match in favor of the home squad.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball returns to action this Saturday, March 20, when the Lions will play their home opener in the Adler Arena versus non-conference opponent Lancaster Bible College at 1:00 p.m.