Men's Volleyball Splits Tri-Match; Defeats Thiel in Three

ERIE, Pa.  – Tyler Herrmann (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) tallied 16 kills and 16 digs to help the Penn State Behrend men's volleyball team split a tri-match with Siena Heights and Thiel on Saturday afternoon at the Junker Center.

The Lions (10-10) fell to the Saints (18-5) in three close sets in the opener, 25-23, 26-24 and 27-25. Behrend picked up its 10^th win of the season with a 3-0 decision over the Tomcats (9-16) in the nightcap. The Lions won 25-19, 25-19 and 25-22 for the sweep.

Herrmann tallied eight digs and seven kills against Thiel. Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) dished out 31 assists and registered four digs. Dillon Hildebrand (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) was able to knock down a team-best nine kills.

Behrend trailed by one point off the opening serve in the first set and then never trailed again to get a 25-19 win. Hildebrand tallied four kills and Josh Mathews (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) got five digs in the set. A small 6-2 run in the middle of the set pushed the lead to 19-11. Thiel got within five at the end with a kill from Mark Kopinski, but Hildebrand sealed the first set with his fourth kill off a pass from Sprentz at 25-19.

The Lions kept a steady lead in the second set, grabbing their largest lead at 17-10 off a Tomcat service error. Thiel closed in at 17-14 but could not get any closer. Joey Reynolds (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) served an ace and Jake Albert (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) got the other offensive point for a 25-19 decision for a 2-0 lead.

In the final set, Albert and Reynolds each had four kills to help Behrend hit .333 and complete the match with a 25-22 victory. The Lions recorded 14 kills overall on 30 attempts with four errors to post their fourth straight win over the Tomcats.

In the first match against Siena Heights, Robert McMaster (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) tallied a team-best 13 digs and Hildebrand added 10 kills. Sprentz posted the double-double with 29 assists and 11 digs.

The Saints knocked down 42 kills and had 12 blocks in three tight sets to defeat Behrend. Down 22-20 in the first set, the Saints won five of the last six points to win by two at 25-23. Kyle Browne tallied four kills for the Saints during that stretch for a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, a Hildebrand kill got the Lions set point at 24-23. A kill from Ryan Hafner tied it at 24-all and an attack error got Siena Heights its first set point. Browne registered the final kill once again for a 26-24 win.

Trying to stay alive in the match, Behrend had set point on two occasions beginning with a 24-23 lead after an attack error by the Saints.  Browne tied it and Reynolds made it 25-24 with a kill, before Browne tied it again for the last time. A block by Hafner and Emmanuel Chaidez put Siena Heights one point from winning and Alex Garavalia's kill secured a 27-25 decision.

Herrmann finished with nine kills and eight digs in the opener.

The Lions return to action on Wednesday at D'Youville. Match begins at 7 p.m.