Men's Volleyball: Bison Battle PSU Times Two in Tri-Meet

Altoona, Pa.-  The Men's volleyball team wrapped up their inaugural season in Altoona to take on a pair of Penn State branch campuses. The Bison were unable to get a win against PSU-Behrend or PSU-Altoona. 

THE MATCHUPS

PSU-Behrend 3, Bethany 0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-15)

PSU-Altoona 3, Bethany 0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-17)

HOW IT HAPPENED (Game One)

Bethany took on PSU-Behrend first. The Bison took an early 5-4 lead with two kills from Rylan Trapp. After a few early errors, PSU-Behrend found their groove ending the first set 25-10 hitting a big .417 from the court. 

The second set started in reverse to the first. The Bison went down 4-1 before tying it up. The same runs happened to give Behrend the lead, then McKay Ginez and James Lucht slammed a few kills to bring the Bison with two points (12-10). PSU cleaned up defensively and managed to take set two 25-16.

Trapp had two of the three kills for the Bison in the third set. Majority of their points came from PSU-Behrend's mistakes. All in all, it wasn't enough to steal a set against the Lions. The Bison dropped game one in three sets. 

HOW IT HAPPENED (Game Two)

Game two was against a separate PSU branch campus, however PSU Altoona is a more familiar foe. The Bison already played the Nittany Lions this season when they hosted a tri-meet inside Hummel Field House.  The Bison fell in three straight sets. 

This matchup was closer than the first time the two teams met. The Bison scored a total of 47 points against the Lions to their latter 29 points.

The first set saw the Bison fight back from being down 6-1 early. A few kills by Lucht brought the Bison back to a tied game at 11. Altoona went on a huge run to finish set one 25-13.

An early 7–2 Nittany Lion lead was threatened when Lucht slammed a kill and proceeded to serve three straight points to bring the Bison within one point. That 8-7 score was quickly widened giving Altoona enough breathing room to continue to trade points with Bethany. The Lions kept the Bison just far enough away in the second set to take their second set.

The Bison led for the first time in the match during the third set. Leonardo Locatelli earned a kill and an ace to put Bethany up 3-1. The offense was unable to keep up with Altoona, who continued to find weak spots in the defense. With their back up against the wall, the Bison fought to extend their season scoring five points. However, the Nittany Lions were able to close out the set and the match 25-17. 

Bison Top Performers- 

• Lucht led the team in total kills with 12 between both matches. 

• Trapp tied Lucht for the kill lead in the first match against Behrend with five kills.

• Alexander Blair's 18 assists were far and away the team lead.

• Two different Bison took the top spot in the digs category in each game. Isaiah Heverling ended game one with six digs while Locatelli ended game two with nine. 

• Six different Bison served an ace. Trapp was the only player to have multiple aces (2).

WHAT'S NEXT?

Bethany will play their final sets of the season against the Chatham Cougars on Tuesday, April 9th.