LATROBE, Pa. (Jan. 31)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team played host to Penn State-Altoona in an AMCC match on Tuesday night, where the Bearcats came away with a 3-0 sweep of the Lions for their first AMCC win of the season.
 
Zach Wyant led the way for Saint Vincent with a game-high 35 assists in the win. Zebadiah Wyant led the Bearcats with 13 kills, while also adding eight digs, and two assists. Matthew Minkin finished with 12 kills and a team-best ten digs and Shawn McSwiggen added ten kills for SVC. McSwiggen also added a team-high two service aces in the win for SVC.
 
Penn State-Altoona scored the first two points of the match, but the Bearcats stormed back scoring the next four points on kills by Zeb Wyant and McSwiggen, followed by back-to-back attack errors on the Lions, as Saint Vincent jumped out to a 4-2 lead. SVC increased their lead to slightly to 6-3 after another kill by Zeb Wyant and service ace by McSwiggen.
 
The Lions scored the next five points in the set to take an 8-6 lead, but SVC answered with two straight points after a kill by Zeb Wyant and a setting error on the Lions to even the score up at 8-8. SVC and Altoona traded the next several points as the Lions held a slight 16-15 lead in the match.
 
Penn State-Altoona scored the next two points to take an 18-15 lead but once again the Bearcats clawed their way back. Saint Vincent scored four straight points and eight of the next nine points to take a 23-19 lead in the set. After a kill by Altoona, SVC answered with kills from Minkin and an attack error by the Lions to win the first set 25-23, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
In the second set, it was back and forth early on, as the score was tied 4-4. SVC scored the next three points on a kill by Zeb Wyant, an attack error by Penn State-Altoona, and another point courtesy of Zeb Wyant on a service ace to take a 7-4 lead in the set.
 
Penn State-Altoona stormed back scoring four of the next five points to tie the set up at 8-8. Both the Lions and Bearcats traded the next several points as the set remained tied at 15-15. The Bearcats once again took control, scoring three points in a row on a service error by the Lions and back-to-back attack errors to take a commanding 18-15 lead.
 
The Bearcats lead remained at three points as they held a 20-17 advantage. Penn State-Altoona once again climbed their way back into the set as they scored three straight points to tie the set up at 20-20. Both teams traded the next couple of points as the game remained tied at 22-22. The Bearcats then scored three of the final four points on kills by Zeb Wyant, Zachary Mumpower, and Zach Waynt to win the set 25-23, taking a 2-0 advantage.
 
In the third set, it was tight early on just as it was in the first two sets as the score was tied 5-5. The teams continued to trade points as the score remained tied at 10-10 and 14-14. The Bearcats scored a point on a kill by Minkin to take a 15-14 lead, before Altoona scored the next two points to take the lead from the Bearcats right back at 16-15.
 
Saint Vincent answered with a quick 3-0 run on three straight kills by Zeb Wyant, Minkin, and McSwiggen as the Bearcats took an 18-16 lead. Both the Bearcats and Lions traded the next couple of points as the Bearcats still held the lead at 22-20. Once again, the Bearcats scored three of the final four points on three attack errors by the Lions to win the set 25-20, completing the sweep.
 
The Bearcats led the Lions in almost every major statistical category. Saint Vincent compiled 41 kills, 40 assists, 42 digs, and four blocks in the win.
 
The Bearcats will enjoy a ten-day break before they return to action, hosting Hilbert in an AMCC match on Saturday, February 11. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center.