Lions Sweep Medaille in Season Finale

BUFFALO, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's volleyball team closed out the 2017 season with their first-ever program win over Medaille, sweeping the Mavericks 3-0 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Wednesday.

The Lions (13-13, 5-3 AMCC), winners in seven of their last 10 matches, recorded a 25-16, 25-20 and 25-23 victory led by eight kills from Trenton Munk (Baden, PA/Ambridge) and Tyler Herrmann (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley). Munk posted a .667 hitting percentage to go with three blocks.

Behrend committed just one error as a team in the first set, hitting .545 with 13 kills on 22 total attacks for a nine-point win. A service error by the Lions was the only point surrendered in the first nine points of the set for an 8-1 lead. Behrend took a double-digit lead at 19-9 on a kill from Herrmann and finished on back-to-back errors for a 25-16 decision.

In the second set, Medaille came out with a 3-1 lead and the Lions reeled off a 14-5 run behind seven points from the serving of Josh Mathews (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) that included two aces. Down the stretch, the Mavericks won four straight point to make it 23-20, but Herrmann registered a kill of an assist from Calvin Nowicki (Eden, NY/Eden) and Munk closed out the set with a kill at 25-20.

The third set was tied 18 times before Behrend completed the sweep with a 25-23 victory. The Mavericks took a 23-21 lead with consecutive kills by Shawn Barbalato. After the Lions timeout, Munk knocked in a kill and Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) got an ace to bring it to 23-all. A Medaille attack error combined with a Munk kill finished the small 4-0 run for the win.

Nowicki dished out 18 assists and Dillon Hildebrand (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) added seven kills.

Behrend finished the season at .500 with a 13-13 record.