ALTOONA, Pa. - March 24, 2021 – Kilvio Montero, Dangelo Boehner and Hunter Rock all set career highs in kills as Hiram College men's volleyball won their fourth-straight, defeating the Penn St. Altoona Lions, 3-2, on Wednesday at Adler Arena.
 
The Terriers and Lions traded leads for much of a first set that featured eight ties and in the early going. However, the Terriers never trailed, and with the score knotted at 14-all, Nathan Cassell and Andrew Gard helped power Hiram to a 19-15 advantage behind a 5-1 run.
 
Philip Silva and the Lions slowed the Terriers roll, but Hiram fired off three-more points to extend their first-set lead to 22-16. Penn St. Altoona answered with a rally of their own, closing the gap to 23-20, but Montero finished off the set with a pair of kills, giving Hiram a 25-20 first-set victory.
 
Hiram then opened set two with a 5-1 run, scoring three-point in quick succession before the Lions got on the scoreboard, and then notching two more to take a 5-1 lead.
 
The Lions answered with a run of their own, evening the score at 5-5, before taking a 9-7 lead on a kill by Frank Perehinec.
 
Montero smashed a kill from Andrew Diaz to pull back within one, and after another Lion kill, the Terriers rattled off four-straight to take the lead. The two sides continued to trade runs, with Penn St. Altoona coming back to tie the score at 13-13, before a 5-2 Hiram run made it 18-15 in favor of the Terriers.
 
Two more points from Montero, a kill and an ace, made it 20-16, before the Terriers pulled away with a three-point rally, taking a 24-18 lead on Boehner's kill and finishing off the set on another to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Penn St. Altoona opened the third set with an extended run of their own, taking a 10-5 lead on a Terrier attack error. The Terriers quickly made their way back though, answering the Lions run with a 10-2 run of their own to even the score at 11-11 and pull ahead 15-13.
 
However, the Lions had an answer, and took an 18-16 lead on a kill by Jared Bodisch. The two sides then went back-and-forth, before the Lions notched four of the last five points of the set to take a 25-23 third-set victory.
 
The fourth set proved to be another back-and-forth affair, with the Terriers taking the first blow, and racing out to a 6-3 lead. Penn St. Altoona answered to take a 9-7 lead, before the two sides stood tied at 10-10, 11-11 and 12-all.
 
Five out of the next six and seven of the next nine points went Penn St. Altoona's way, but the Terriers made their way back to tie the score at 20-20 on a Montero kill and take a 21-20 lead on an Altoona attack error.
 
A service error re-tied the set, and the two sides stood tied at 21-21 and then again at 22-22. Hiram then took a 23-22 lead, but the Lions finished off the set with three-straight, taking the fourth set 25-23 to force a decisive, fifth set.
 
Hiram came out strong to open the fifth set, scoring four of the first five points. Altoona pulled within two on a service error, but three-straight from the Terriers on a pair of kills from Gard and Montero, as well as a Lions' attack error, extended Hiram's lead to 8-3.
 
Penn St. Altoona again pulled within two, with scores of 10-8 and 11-9, before the Terriers forced the Lions to take a timeout with two successive points to take a 13-9, fifth-set lead.
 
A ball handling error then made it 14-9, and Montero finished off the match with one of his career-high 22 kills to give the Terriers a 15-9 fifth-set victory, and a 3-2 match victory.
 
Montero led the Terriers with a career-high 22 kills, tied for the second-most in a match in program history, while Boehner and Rock also notched career-highs with 16 and 12 kills apiece.
 
Jake Lininger led Hiram with 35 assists, while Cory Fischer led the Terriers defensively with 17 digs.
 
With the win, Hiram remains atop the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) with a 5-1 (4-0 AMCC) record, while Penn St. Altoona falls to 1-3 (1-2 AMCC) on the year.
 
As a team, the Terriers recorded a .264 hitting percentage, tallying 60 kills, tied for the third-most in a match in program history, 50 assists and 55 digs.
 
The Terriers will look to keep rolling when they travel to Greenville, Pa. on Sunday, March 28 for an AMCC conference matchup against Thiel at 2:00 p.m.