Men’s Volleyball returns to St. Joe’s in AMCC match against Penn State Altoona

PITTSBURGH --- After a 48-day hiatus, Carlow University men's volleyball finally returned to Saint Joseph Athletic & Fitness Center Gymnasium for an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference match against Penn State Altoona Tuesday night.

The Lions (12-10, 2-0 AMCC) swept the Celtics (0-13, 0-2 AMCC), 3-0.

Luke Campana (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) led Carlow with five kills and Angelo Fernandez (Williamsport, Pa./St. John Neumann Regional Academy) picked up three digs. Caio Matos Machado (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Bishop Guilfoyle HS) recorded both of the Celtics' solo blocks on the night and Gavin McLain (Acworth, Ga./North Paulding HS) tallied two service aces in the effort.

Carlow kept it close to start the game, with a Lions error tying the score at 7-all early on. A 10-1 run by Altoona prompted a Carlow timeout to regroup, and a kill from Ryan Callahan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area HS) saw Carlow trailing by nine before the Lions closed the set, 25-13.

The Celtics' fared better in the second set, tying the game four times before an ace by Jaden Michalski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) gave Carlow a 6-5 lead. The Lions tied the game at 8- and 9-all, but back-to-back kills from McLain kept the Celtics ahead, 11-9, resulting in an Altoona timeout.

A 7-2 run out of the timeout put the Lions up 16-13. Several errors allowed the Celtics to trail by one, but Altoona forged ahead and created some distance. A kill from Campana kept the set going before the Lions ended the game 25-21 with a kill of their own.

Altoona jumped out to a 13-6 advantage in the third set and strung together a 9-1 run to lead 22-9 enroute to a 25-14 victory.

Owen Pratt led the Lions with a game-high nine kills while Joshua Harclerode and Caleb Fries combined for six of the Lions' 10 service aces on the night. Altoona hit .368 in the match.

The Celtics return to action with a 7 p.m. game at Houghton (N.Y.) University Friday night.