HIRAM, Ohio - February 21, 2020 – Hiram Terriers men's volleyball defeated the Penn State Altoona Lions, 3-1, on Friday at Price Gymnasium to secure their first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) win of the year.

A back-and-forth first set featured six ties in the early going, before the Terriers opened up a three-point, 17-14 lead, and the Lions took a timeout.

Mirko Pandini and the Lions cut the Terriers' lead down to two coming out of the timeout, but a kill by Tom Supan and a service ace gave Hiram a four-point advantage. The Terriers extended their lead to five, 23-18, over the next few points, forcing another Penn State Altoona timeout, before finishing off the match, 25-19, with a kill by Grant Phelan and an attack error to take a 1-0 lead.

The Lions took an early lead in the second set, before using a 5-1 run to open a 13-8 advantage. Hiram, though, took a timeout and went out a 7-2 run out of the timeout, pulling within one, 15-14, on Dangelo Boehner's kill.

Two quick points by the Lions made it 17-14, but the Terriers answered with a 4-0 run. The Lions answered with a 4-0 run of their own, taking a 21-18, and forcing Hiram to spend their last timeout.

But once again, the Terriers regrouped and rattled off five-straight points, highlighted by a block by Andrew Gard and Supan as well as Jake Lininger's service ace, to take a 23-21 lead.

Penn State Altoona then tied the set at 24, before the Lions and Terriers traded points to knot the score at 24-all, 25-all and 26-all.

With Supan serving following another Terrier block, an attack error gave Hiram a one-point lead, before Supan finished off the set with a service ace, giving Hiram a 28-26 set victory and a 2-0 match lead.

The Lions responded in the third set, racing out to a 9-3 lead, but the Terriers responded with a run of their own. The two sides then went back-and-forth, before Penn State Altoona eventually pressed their advantage, pulling away late to take the third set, 25-19.

Leading two sets to one, Hiram looked to finish off the Lions in the fourth set and opened an early 6-2 lead. The Lions would pull within two, but a 4-0 run off of Phelan's serve forced Penn State Altoona to take a timeout with the Terriers up 10-4.

Hiram scored another point on a kill by Boehner before the Lions made their way back, pulling within a point on Ben Beaver's service ace.

But the Terriers called a timeout and then rattled off four of the next five points to retake a four-point 18-14 lead on another ace by Supan. The Lions would come within two, but another 4-1 run solidified the Terriers lead and brought up match point.

Down 24-19, Penn State Altoona held off match point three times, but an attack error with the Terriers up 24-22 finished the set off, giving Hiram a 3-1 victory.

With the win, Hiram moves to 6-5 (1-2 AMCC), while the Lions drop to 5-8 (1-1 AMCC).

Supan led the Terriers with 17 kills and four aces, adding six digs and three block assists. Lininger tallied a team-high 25 assists, while Andrew Diaz added 15.

Defensively, Phelan notched a team-high 12 digs, while Cory Fischer added 11 and Gard and Boehner each led the Terriers with four blocks.

The Terriers are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 22 when they host the Wittenberg Tigers in another AMCC conference matchup at 2:00 p.m. at Price Gymnasium.