BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - February 29, 2020 – Hiram Terriers men's volleyball defeated the Thiel College Tomcats, 3-0, on Saturday before falling to the Penn State Behrend Lions, 3-0 at an AMCC Quad-Match hosted by Geneva College at Metheny Fieldhouse. With the win over Thiel, the Terriers set a new program-record with eight wins, moving to 8-7 (3-4 AMCC) on the season.

MATCH 1: Hiram 3, Thiel 0
Down 2-1 to start the opening set, Hiram scored four straight and used an 8-2 run to take a 9-3 lead against the Tomcats. With a run of their own, Thiel pulled within two, 14-12, but the Terriers extended their lead back to five with a 3-0 run of their own.

The Terriers and Tomcats then went back-and-forth, before three-straight from Thiel cut Hiram's lead down to just one, 22-21. But the Terriers set up match point with back-to-back kills from Grant Phelan ad Hunter Rock, before finishing off the set on an attack error to take the first set, 25-21, and a 1-0 match lead.

Thiel started the second set on a 3-0 run, before Hiram answered with an 8-1 run to take an 8-4 lead on a block by Dangelo Boehner and Rock. The Tomcats quickly tied things up and took an 11-9 lead with a 7-1 run.

Down 17-14, Hiram rallied with three-straight points to tie the score at 17-all on Justin English's service ace, before taking an 18-17 lead on a Thiel attack error. The Tomcats tied things up on a kill by Jacob Burkley, but the Terriers answered with an 8-0 run to take the set, 25-18, highlighted by four blocks by Boehner.

Up two sets to none, Hiram led by as many as five in the third set, taking a 20-15 lead on a kill by Nathan Cassell. The Tomcats answered with one last push, using an 8-2 run to take a 23-22 lead, but Hiram regrouped and knotted the score on a service error and took a 24-23 lead on Phelan's ace.

Thiel evened the set at 24-all on Jacob DeRue's kill, but back-to-back kills by Boehner and Cassell from Andrew Diaz finished off the 26-24 set victory for the Terriers to give Hiram a 3-0 sweep over Thiel.

Cassell led the Terriers with eight kills and nine digs, while Boehner added a team-high eight blocks and Jake Lininger tallied a team-high 17 assists.

With the win, the Terriers set a new program-high for wins, surpassing their 2019 total of seven.

MATCH 2: Penn St. Behrend 3, Hiram 0
Following early 1-1 and 2-2 ties, Penn St. Behrend raced out to a 7-3 lead and led by as many as 10 in the opening set. The Lions used an 11-4 run to take an 18-8 lead, and though the Terriers cut the deficit to just eight on a kill by Diaz, Penn St. Behrend finished off the set, 25-15, to take a 1-0 lead.

The Terriers opened the second set with an 8-2 run, scoring the first five points of the set on Cassell's serve. However, the Lions answered with a 5-2 run to pull within two, and knotted the set at 14-all with a 3-1 run.

Hiram answered with three-straight, capped off by an ace by Cassell, but again, the Lions would pull within one, and eventually knot the match at 20-20.

Following a bit of back-and-forth play, Hiram and Penn St. Behrend stood tied at 24-all, but back-to-back kills gave the Lions a 26-24 victory in set two, and a 2-0 match lead.

The Terriers and Lions traded points to open the third set, with 11 ties in the opening 28 points. With the score knotted at 14, Penn St. Behrend tallied two quick points to take a 16-14 lead. Hiram pulled within a point on another kill by Cassell, but the Lions rallied for four-straight to pull ahead, 22-17.

Hiram would hold off match points with a kill by Phelan, but the Lions took the third set, 25-20, to finish off the match with a 3-0 victory.

Phelan led the Terriers with eight kills, while Diaz tallied a team-high 13 assists. Lininger joined Diaz in double-figures with 12 assists, while Cassell notched a two service aces.

Defensively, Cory Fischer tallied a team-high eight digs, while Boehner again led Hiram with three blocks.

The Terriers will be back in action on Friday, March 6 when they travel to Keuka Park, N.Y. for the Keuka Invitational to take on Sage College at 6:00 p.m., followed by matchups against Keuka and Randolph-Macon on Saturday, March 7 at KC Gymnasium.