AMCC Men's Volleyball Game of the Week:
Penn State Altoona @ Geneva College
Saturday, February 22 at 2:00 p.m.
Video | Live Stats
The first-ever AMCC Men's Volleyball Game of the Week features the Penn State Altoona Lions traveling to Beaver Falls, PA to take on Geneva College, who was tabbed the AMCC preseason favorites.
Penn State Altoona men’s volleyball is 5-7 overall and 1-0 in the AMCC, as the Lions head into a pair of conference matches on the road this weekend. Senior outside hitter Frank Perehinec leads the team in kills per set (2.15) and ranks 11th in the AMCC in that stat, and he is also 11th in the conference in points per set (2.62). Sophomore setter/outside hitter Ben Beaver is 12th in the AMCC in points per set (2.56) while also being ninth in aces per set (0.29), 12th in assists per set (2.63), 16th in kills per set (1.88), and 18th in blocks per set (0.49). Freshman Tyler Sheaffer has also contributed at setter, ranking eighth in the conference in assists per set (4.68). Defensively, sophomore setter/defensive specialist Matthew Vandeveire has been strong, ranking fourth in the AMCC in digs per set (2.44), as have sophomore middles Daniel Jordan and Mirko Pandini, who rank 10th and 12th, respectively, in blocks per set with averages of 0.61 and 0.58. Penn State Altoona currently leads the AMCC in blocks per set as a team, averaging 2.11 per set.
The Geneva men’s volleyball team will be opening conference play in the AMCC this weekend after being voted the preseason favorites in the conference at the beginning of the season. The Golden Tornadoes are coming off their inaugural season last year, finishing 20-9 overall, 11-3 in the AMCC, which tied them for first place in the regular season. This year the Golden Tornadoes are currently 11-6 overall after sweeping Mount Union and Saint Vincent in a tri-match last week. Geneva is led by senior Quinn McCracken and juniors Anthony Baronio and Dan Townsend. McCracken and Baronio were 1st Team All-AMCC selections last season, while Townsend was a 2nd Team All-AMCC selection. McCracken leads the AMCC with 215 kills so far this year on an impressive .342 hitting percentage. Baronio contributes in just about every area, and he is the in the top five in the AMCC in assists (275), kills (149), digs (108) and blocks (46). Townsend leads the AMCC with 159 digs while also contributing 70 kills. In addition, sophomore Peter Barbato has 95 kills and 33 blocks, while freshman Byron Spear leads the AMCC with 58 blocks. Freshmen Curtis Tomas and Jake Williams have also seen extensive playing time early in the year.