Altoona Battles Behrend For Five-Set Win

ALTOONA, Pa. - For the second time this season, the Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team was able to pull off a 3-2 victory against Penn State Behrend in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Friday night in Alder Gym.

The teams each traded sets with the Lions (2-6, 0-3 AMCC) taking the first one 25-17, before Altoona (3-1) won game two 25-22. Behrend grabbed set three (25-19) and the Altoona Lions rallied down in the fourth for a 25-23 decision, eventually winning 15-10 in the fifth.

Trenton Munk (Baden, PA/Ambridge) and Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) combined for just five hitting errors on the night. Munk led Behrend with 17 kills, while Oertly had a .462 attacking percentage with 14 kills on 26 attempts. Oertly also dominated the net with eight blocks.

Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) recorded 46 assists on the 49 kills tallied by the team.

Behrend pulled away from Altoona late in the first set with an eight-point lead after an Eric Theiss (Plum, PA/Plum) ace. The senior served the three points and five Altoona errors led to a 25-17 victory for a 1-0 lead.

Altoona never trailed in the second for a close 25-22 win, while the Lions managed a comfortable lead to take a 2-1 edge thanks to a 25-19 win and a kill from Munk to close out the third set.

In the fourth, Altoona won the last five points of the set to hold off Behrend from grabbing the match with a 25-23 come-from-behind victory. With a home crowd behind them, Altoona was able to erase an early three-point deficit won with a 7-0 run to end the set for a 15-10 decision.

Cameron Crow (State College, PA/State College) had a team-best 14 digs, while Tyler Herrmann (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) added nine kills and eight digs.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, February 20 against Vassar and Bard. Matches begin at 10:30 a.m.