ALTOONA, Pa. (Feb. 1)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team split their matches in a tri-match at Penn State-Altoona, falling to Wilkes in the opener before defeating Penn State-Altoona in the tri-match finale.

GAME 1- Wilkes 3, Saint Vincent 2
The Bearcats fell in five sets in their opening match of the day. They dropped the first set 29-27, before bouncing back with a 25-21 win in set two. Wilkes won the third set 25-22, before the Bearcats won set four 25-20 to force a fifth set. Wilkes won the fifth set by a score of 15-13.

Shawn McSwiggen had a match-high 26 kills in the loss for Saint Vincent. Zebadiah Wyant also added 16 kills for Saint Vincent, and Tyler Nelson recorded six for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats had a good day up front as Nick Sikorski recorded five blocks, while Wyant added four, and Rocco Marino recorded two blocks of his own. Jackson Genicola totaled 49 assists and 14 digs in the loss for Saint Vincent as well.

The first set was a marathon as the teams traded points the entire way through the set. After back-to-back kills from McSwiggen and Wyant, Saint Vincent took a 27-26 lead. Wilkes went on to score the next three points to win the set (29-27), as Saint Vincent was trailing 1-0.

Saint Vincent controlled the whole way throughout set two as they had set point leading 24-17. Wilkes scored the next four points, but the Bearcats won the set (25-21) after a kill from Wyant to tie the match at 1-1.

The teams traded back-and-forth in set three as the set was tied 15-15 and then 20-20. Wilkes scored three of the next four to take a 23-21 lead, but after a McSwiggen kill, Wilkes scored the next two points to win the set (25-22) and SVC was trailing 2-1.

After controlling the majority of the set as the Bearcats led 18-11, but Wilkes climbed back in to cut the lead to 23-20. Kills from Wyant and Nelson won the set for Saint Vincent (25-20) tying the match at 2-2.

SVC opened to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set. However, Wilkes went on to outscore Saint Vincent 14-8 over the rest of the set to win the set (15-13), handing the Bearcats the loss in their tri match opener.

GAME 2- Saint Vincent 3, Penn State-Altoona 1
The Bearcats won in four sets in the tri-match finale, winning the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-17. Altoona won 25-22 in set three before Saint Vincent picked up a 25-17 win in set four to win the match.

Wyant led the way in this match, recording a match-high 19 kills, while McSwiggen added 18 kills of his own. Wyant also recorded four blocks, while Marino added three more blocks in the win. 

Genicola recorded another double-double with 38 assists and 18 digs in the 3-1 victory.

Saint Vincent quickly opened to a 6-0 lead in the first set and never looked back. SVC still led by six at 22-16 in the later portions of the set. The Bearcats scored two of the final three points on two Lions service errors as Saint Vincent won the set (25-20), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Bearcats opened up to the same result in set two as they opened to a 6-1 lead. Saint Vincent opened their lead to six (23-17) in the late portions of the set, before scoring the final two points on kills from Wyant and Sikorski to win the set (25-17), taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

After winning for the majority of the third set, Altoona came back late in the set scoring the final three points in the set to win the set (25-22), cutting the lead to 2-1 in the match.

Saint Vincent secured the victory in set four. The Bearcats opened to a 17-12 lead by the middle portions of the set looking to close the match victory out. Their lead increased to seven at 23-16, before the Bearcats scored two of the final three points in the set, ending the match with another kill from Wyant to win the set (25-17) and the match 3-1.

SVC returns to action on Thursday, February 6 competing in their home opener against Carlow. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center on Thursday night.