Altoona, Pa. (Feb. 16) – The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team dropped its 2022 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opener by a 3-0 score at Penn State- Altoona on Wednesday evening.

The Nittany Lions took the three sets by scores of 25-8, 25-17 and 25-17.

Matthew Minkin recorded seven of SVC's 19 kills on the evening, while he also led with 15 assists. Ethan Kammerer served one ace, while Matthew Furrer tallied seven digs.

In the first set, the Bearcats used two Nittany Lion errors to trail by two to open the set, 4-2. The Lions responded to take the 5-3 advantage, but SVC would trail 10-5 on an attack error. The Bearcats would score only three more points in the set as Penn State- Altoona took the set, 25-8.

The Lions kept the momentum to open up the second set, racing out to a 12-6 lead. The Bearcats would then chip away at the deficit, closing to within four, 18-14. The Lions answered by taking a four-point lead and SVC couldn't respond, as Penn State took four straight points to win the set, 25-17.

The Lions again raced out to a big lead in the third set, opening on a 5-1 run before eventually opening up a 11-7 advantage. The Lions' lead eventually grew to 17-10 before the Bearcats battled back, taking advantage of three kills by Anthony Ditonto and Furrer and a service error by the Lions to pull within five, 20-15. An attack error by the Lions cut the gap to 23-17 but Penn State-Altoona took the next two points and the match, 25-17.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 19 participating in an AMCC tri-match against Hilbert and Hiram at Hiram College. First match is set for 5:00 p.m.