BUFFALO, NY – The No. 10 Medaille men's volleyball team won their 11th straight match with a 3-0 decision (25-23, 25-23 and 25-22) over Penn State Behrend in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Tuesday night.
The win for the Mavericks (14-6, 6-0 AMCC) is the second over the Lions (11-8, 5-1 AMCC) this season, putting them in the driver's seat to defend their AMCC title with one conference match remaining.
Trevor Barrett led Medaille with 19 kills (.400 hitting percentage), nine digs and three blocks.
Behrend got 14 kills and three digs from Nathan Steele (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley), who hit .393 on the night. Grant Kocher (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) tallied 10 digs, five kills and two blocks.
All three sets could have gone either way with the scores so close. Neither team led by more than five points in each game, including the first set where the Mavericks led 10-5 before the Lions came back to tie it on six occasions. At 23-all, Barrett registered a kill and an attack error put the Mavericks on top, 25-23.
Starting the second set down 4-1, Behrend rallied with a 7-2 run to take an 8-6 edge. The Mavericks returned the favor with a 10-4 spurt to regain the lead that would not relinquish for another close 25-23 win.
The Lions were within one point down the stretch in the third set. Two attack errors and a kill by Jack Hagerty gave Medaille the final three points of the game for the match.
Antonio Vazquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/UHS) was second on the team in kills with seven, while Colin Ingram (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Darby) added 14 assists and Mitch Farabaugh (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) dished out 13 assists.
The Lions return to action on Sunday against Penn State Altoona, starting at 2 p.m.
