BUFFALO, N.Y. (Mar. 5) – The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponents Medaille and Thiel Saturday afternoon. 
 
Match 1: Medaille 3, Saint Vincent 0  (25-21, 25-20, 26-24)
Matthew Minkin paced Saint Vincent with eight kills in the day's opener, while Ethan Kammerer added six and Anthony Ditonto four. Kammerer led SVC with four blocks, while Minkin tallied 11 digs. Furrer also dished out a team-leading 20 assists. 
 
In the opening set, SVC took the 6-3 lead after three straight points on two errors and a kill by Minkin. The Mavericks then awoke by edging their way back into the set, tying it at 13 all. Medaille and Saint Vincent continued to battle back and forth, but a crucial 3-0 Maverick run gave them the 25-21 win to start the match.  
 
The second set began with Medaille and Saint Vincent trading points. After an ace from Kammerer made the score 10-7, the Mavericks responded with a lengthy run to take a 19-14 lead. The Bearcats chipped away at the deficit, closing to within one, 20-19, on an ace from Ditonto, but Medaille would score five of the final six points to take a 2-0 match lead. 
 
The teams traded points in the opening stages of the third set, before the Mavericks put together a 5-1 run to open up a 16-13 advantage. SVC scored the next three points to tie the match at 16 and were not going down without a fight. The set remained tied at 24, but two straight Medaille points gave them the 26-24 set win and the match, 3-0. 
 
Match 2: Thiel 3, Saint Vincent 0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-19)
Thiel was strong out of the gates to open the day's second match, quickly jumping out to a 12-5 lead. The Thiel lead would dwindle to two, as SVC tallied  a 5-0 run on a service error, two attack errors and kills from Minkin and Ditonto. The set would then go back and forth before Thiel took a 20-16 lead. The Tomcats stayed hot, closing out the set with five straight points to take the 25-16 win.  
 
Saint Vincent and Thiel battled back and forth got to start the second set, before the Tomcats jumped to a three-point lead, 10-7. Thiel then used an 8-2 run to take the 16-9 edge over SVC. As was the case in the previous set, however, the Tomcats added to their lead down the stretch, taking the set by a 25-17 score. 
 
Thiel kept the momentum as the third set began, scoring six of the first seven points before, eventually opening up a 17-8 lead. The Bearcats battled back with a 5-2 run to pull to within six, 19-13, on an attack error, but they would get no closer, as the Tomcats upped their lead over the remainder of the match to close out a 25-19 win and take the match 3-0. 
 
Minkin again led the Bearcats with six kills, while Andrew Cassidy put down six. Ditonto led with two blocks, while Minkin led the defense with nine digs. Furrer handed out 15 assists. 
 
The Bearcats will now have a five-day respite before returning to home action on Thursday, March 10, with a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup against Carlow.