ERIE, Pa. – The Medaille men's volleyball team had three players with double-digit kills, led by Trevor Barrett's game-high 16 to help defeat Penn State Behrend 3-1 in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action on Wednesday night.
After the Mavericks (5-6, 4-3 UVC) won the first set 25-22, the Lions (7-3, 4-2 UVC) took their first set from Medaille in program history with a 30-28 decision. The Mavericks proved to be too much in the third and fourth, earning 25-22 and 25-15 victories to snap Behrend's four-match winning streak.
Jordan James tallied 13 kills and six blocks, while David Hill posted a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs in the win.
Nathan Steele (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) continues to dominate for the Lions, hitting .579 and knocking down a team-best 12 kills. Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) paced all players with nine blocks.
The first set was an indication of how this rival match was going to turn out. Neither team led by more than two points with the Lions holding their last lead at 14-12. With the score tied at 19-all, a kill by Barrett and an attack error by Behrend put Medaille in the lead for good. Hill got the final point on an assist by David Riggsby to make it 25-22.
In a thrilling extra-point set, the Lions had three chances to put the game away. With the Lions leading 24-22, the Mavericks rallied for the next two points to tie the set at 24-all. It was the first of four ties in the final 10 points. Ty Sheehan's (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) kill made it 28-29 and Antonio Vazquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/UHS) won the set with an ace to knot the match at 1-all.
Medaille's 52 digs in the match came in handy, especially in the final two sets. The Mavericks grabbed their largest lead at 17-10, but the Lions didn't go down without a fight getting within two at 22-20. James, Barrett and Luke Wolanin each had kills to seal set three, 25-22.
Medaille had its best set in the fourth, hitting .387 with 15 kills on 31 attempts to not give Behrend a chance for a decisive fifth set.
Colin Ingram (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Darby) finished with 25 assists, five digs and two blocks.
The Lions return to action on Saturday at No. 9 Nazareth. Match begins at 2 p.m.
