HIRAM, Ohio – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball suffered its first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference loss of the season on Friday night, falling 3-1 to conference foe Hiram College in the Price Gymnasium.

After a 3-2 Penn State Altoona win in the teams' first match of the season on January 24 in Altoona, Friday's meeting was another tight battle. Hiram (6-5, 1-2 AMCC) won the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 28-26. The Lions (5-8, 1-1 AMCC) got on the board with a 25-19 victory in the third set, but the Terriers came back with a 25-22 win in the fourth to take the match.

Penn State Altoona's Ben Beaver (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) posted career-highs in three different categories during the match, recording 26 points, 21 kills, and five service aces. With those numbers, he also tied for the fourth-most points in a single match in team history, as well as tying for the fifth-most aces in a match and tying for the sixth-most kills in a match.

Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) added 10 kills and seven digs, and he posted a team-high three total blocks with two solos and one assist. Nikolas Ferraro (Toms River, NJ/Donovan Catholic) tallied eight kills, one solo block, and one block assist.

Daniel Jordan (Pittsburgh, PA/Thomas Jefferson) added four kills, and Mirko Pandini (Milan, Italy/Greater Latrobe) chipped in three kills.

Tyler Sheaffer (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) posted a season-high 40 assists to lead all players in the match, and he also led the match in digs with 14. Additionally, he contributed three kills and two solo blocks.

Beaver added nine digs, and Matthew Vandeveire (Washington, D.C./West Springfield) had eight digs.

In the first set, Penn State Altoona worked its way out to an 11-9 lead, but Hiram overtook the Lions' lead behind an 8-3 run that put the home team in front, 17-14. The Terriers outscored the Lions 8-5 the rest of the way to grab the opening set.

Penn State Altoona got out to another lead in the second set, establishing a 13-8 advantage that was helped by three kills from Beaver, two from Ferraro, and one apiece by Pandini, Sheaffer, and Jordan, along with solo blocks by Sheaffer and Perehinec. But Hiram came back again, and the teams eventually found themselves deadlocked 25-25. Perehinec's kill broke the tie, but a Hiram block answered that point to knot the score again. The Terriers recorded the next two points on an attack error and a service ace, winning the set and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Lions took another early lead in the third set, lost it, and then reclaimed it to take a set from Hiram. Penn State Altoona opened the third set on an 8-2 run that included two kills and an ace from Beaver, along with a Perehinec kill. After a timeout, Hiram rallied to go on a 9-1 run to jump ahead, 11-9. But Penn State Altoona answered that by outscoring the Terriers 16-8 the rest of the way, earning the set's 25th point on a Perehinec kill.

Hiram started the fourth set by getting out to an 11-4 lead. Penn State Altoona pushed back, going on a 9-3 run helped by two kills and two aces from Beaver and one kill apiece from Pandini and Jordan. But clinging to a 14-13 lead, Hiram managed to stay on top the rest of the way. A block by Ferraro and Perehinec gave the Lions hope late, narrowing Hiram's advantage to 24-22, but a Lions attack error on the next play ended the set, as the Terriers prevailed in the match.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball gets right back at it tomorrow, Saturday, February 22, when the Lions travel to Beaver Falls, Pa. to take on AMCC opponent Geneva College at 2:00 p.m. That match has been tabbed as the AMCC Match of the Week.