Medaille Holds Off Lions for AMCC Title

Medaille Holds Off Lions for AMCC Title

BUFFALO, NY – With the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) title on the line, the Medaille men's volleyball team edged Penn State Behrend 3-1 for their fourth straight championship on Wednesday night.

The Mavericks (14-12, 6-1 AMCC) had double-digit kills each set, including 19 in the first set that went into extra points to earn their second victory over the Lions (11-12, 6-2 AMCC) and most importantly the AMCC crown. Medaille won 29-27, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-14.

Both David Hill and Jack Hagerty, the current AMCC Player of the Week, registered 14 kills for the Mavericks. Hagerty also hit .522 for the match and added six blocks, three aces and two digs.

Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) was one kill and one block away from season bests with a team-best 13 kills and six blocks on the night.

Down by nine at 18-9 in the first set, Behrend rallied to knot the game at 23-all with a 14-5 run thanks to a pair of aces and kills from Ty Sheehan (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton). The Lions took the lead on a kill from Eric Theiss (Plum, PA/Plum) and an attack error by Medaille.

Behrend were faced with set point three times, but the Mavericks put down three straight kills to secure game one, 29-27.

No more than a three-point lead until halfway through set two, Medaille manage to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 victory.

With a chance at their first AMCC Championship, the Lions had to win the third set to stay alive and did just that. Offensively, Sheehan got another ace and Trenton Munk (Baden, PA/Ambridge) along with Theiss knocked in kills at the end for a 25-23 win.

Medaille used an 8-2 run in the fourth to break open the set after holding a small 10-9 lead. Nate Schneider's service ace was the final point for the Mavericks to repeat as AMCC Champions.

Mitch Farabaugh (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) posted 28 assists and Derek Polishen (Plum, PA/Plum) led with 11 digs.

Behrend returns to action on Saturday at Stevens in a tri-match with Vassar. Matches begin at 11 a.m.