Men’s Volleyball Downed 3-1 by Messiah
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball faced a strong non-conference opponent in the Adler Arena on Wednesday night, when the Lions suffered a 3-1 loss to Messiah College.
Messiah (8-2), which received seven votes in this week's edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Top 15 poll, won the first two sets of the match by commanding scores, 25-15 and 25-13. Penn State Altoona (5-7) stayed alive by winning 25-22 in the third set, but the Falcons bounced back to take the fourth set 25-13.
Daniel Jordan (Pittsburgh, PA/Thomas Jefferson) tied for the match-high with three solo blocks, and he also recorded six kills. Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) totaled a team-best eight kills, and Ben Beaver (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) put up a team-high 12 assists to go along with seven kills and a block assist.
Mirko Pandini (Milan, Italy/Greater Latrobe) and Nathaniel Reinert (State College PA/State College) chipped in three kills apiece, with Reinert also notching a team-high two service aces. Nikolas Ferraro (Toms River, NJ/Donovan Catholic) had one solo block and one block assist, and Abel Gebre (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) recorded one solo block.
Matthew Vandeveire (Washington, D.C./West Springfield) tied for the match-high in digs with 10, and he also finished with nine assists. Matthew Faust (New Oxford, PA/New Oxford) added seven assists, and Micah Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PA Cyber) recorded six digs.
Messiah had a strong opening set, hitting .346 as a team and prevailing by 10 points. The Falcons worked their way out to a 10-4 lead, then led by as many as 10.
In the second set, the visitors had another efficient attack percentage as a team, swinging at a .333 clip while capitalizing on 11 Penn State Altoona attack errors. Messiah got out to a 10-2 lead in the set and earned a 12-point victory, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the match.
Penn State Altoona rallied to win the third set, producing a match-high 14 kills during the set. Tied 8-8, the Lions used an 8-2 run to establish a 16-10 lead. During that run, Penn State Altoona got two kills apiece from Perehinec and Pandini, as well as a kill and a block from Jordan. Messiah battled back, cutting its deficit to 20-19, but the Lions responded with three straight points on Jordan's kill and solo block and Reinert's ace. Perehinec's kill got Penn State Altoona to 24 points, and a Messiah service error eventually ended the set.
But Messiah rebounded in the fourth set. With the score tied 5-5, the Falcons used a 10-1 run to stake out a 15-6 advantage. The visitors went on to win the set by 12 points, taking the match in four sets.
Penn State Altoona men's volleyball returns to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference action this weekend on the road. Friday, February 21, the Lions will travel to play Hiram College for the second time this season at 7:00 p.m. The next day, Saturday, February 22, Penn State Altoona continues its road trip at Geneva College for a 2:00 p.m. match.
