ALTOONA, Pa. (Mar. 15)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team fell to Penn State-Altoona on the road 3-2.
 
The Bearcats lost the first set 25-21 but stormed back to win the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead in the match but Penn State-Altoona won the final two sets to secure the win.
 
Matthew Minkin led the way for the Bearcats with team-high 17 kills in the loss. Zebadiah Wyant added 14 kills and Shawn McSwiggen recorded 13 kills for the Bearcats. Matthew Klasnic recorded a team-high 26 digs in the loss for Saint Vincent.
 
In the first set the Bearcats got off to a quick start, scoring two of the first three points in the set. Kills by Minkin and Zeb Wyant gave Saint Vincent an early 2-1 lead. PSU-Altoona stormed back going on an 8-4 run to take a 9-6 lead in the opening set. After a setting error by the Lions cut the lead to 9-7 PSU-Altoona scored the next four points to take control in the set at 13-7.
 
Altoona continued on the attack as the Lions had increased their lead over the Bearcats to 18-12 in the opening set. Saint Vincent climbed back into the set cutting the lead to 21-18 after a 6-3 run from the Bearcats. The late push by the Bearcats wasn't enough in the set as three is the closest they would get as Penn State-Altoona won set one (25-21).
 
Saint Vincent responded in the second set. Penn State-Altoona scored three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead in the set but the Bearcats answered. After Altoona led 4-2, the Bearcats scored the next three points on three straight attack errors by the Lions as Saint Vincent took their first lead of the set at 5-4.
 
The Lions and Bearcats traded the next couple of points as the Bearcats still led slightly at 7-6. Saint Vincent once again capitalized on errors by the Lions as SVC increased their lead to 13-8, looking to even the match up at one set a piece.
 
After a point from Altoona and kills by Minkin and McSwiggen, the Bearcats increased their lead to 15-9. Over the next few points to Lions clawed their way back into the game as the Bearcats lead shrunk to to just two at 19-17.
 
Altoona continued to climb back into the Saint Vincent lead, but SVC scored two of the final three points on a kill by Zeb Wyant and attack error by the Lions to win the set (25-21), evening up the match at 1-1.
 
Saint Vincent followed up their second set win with a win in the third set as well. The Bearcats scored three of the first four points in the set on an error by the Lions, followed by kills from Michael Pollak and Zeb Wyant as SVC led 3-1.
 
Over the next few points both SVC and Penn State-Altoona traded points as the Bearcats two-point lead held strong at 12-10 and continued trade points as the Bearcats still led at 18-16 and 20-18.
 
Saint Vincent then scored four of the next five points on an error by Altoona followed by kills from Zeb Wyant, Mumpower, and a service ace by McSwiggen as SVC led 24-19 with set point. After a kill by the Lions made the score 24-20, Minkin ended the set with a kill of his own to win the set (25-20) as Saint Vincent took a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth set the Bearcats jumped out to early leads at 8-4, 10-6, and 13-9 but the Lions stormed back. Penn State-Altoona went on a 5-1 run to tie the set up at 14-14, destined to force a fifth set. The Bearcats regained the lead in the next several points at 20-18 and after a setting error, increased it to 21-19.
 
Once again Altoona answered back to tie the set up at 23-23 and scored the final two points to win the set 25-23, forcing a fifth set.
 
In the fifth set, the Bearcats jumped out to an early 3-1 lead again after kills by Zeb Wyant and McSwiggen. After increasing their lead to 4-2 Penn State-Altoona sealed the match for good as the Lions went on a 5-1 run to take a 7-5 lead and continued on the attack to win the set 15-11, winning the match 3-2.
 
Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, March 25, with an AMCC matchup against Wells, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center.
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