ERIE, Pa. – March 5, 2022 - Hiram men's volleyball dropped two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) matches against Penn State Altoona and Penn State Behrend on Saturday afternoon.
Match #1: Penn State Altoona 3, Hiram 2
In the first match of the day, Hiram and Altoona started tight before the Terriers started pulling away. With the score tied at 12, the visiting side scored six of the next seven points with Hiram now holding an 18-13 lead after a
Dangelo Boehner kill. As the first set reached its conclusion, the Terriers still held onto the comfortable lead. Back-to-back errors from Altoona led to a Hiram first set win by a score of 25-17.
Hiram took a brief lead at the beginning of the second set, going up 8-4 after an Altoona attack error. The lead continued with a 13-10 lead following a
Tom Supan attack error. Seven of the next eight points went to the way of the Lions, now leading 17-14. Closing out the second set, the Lions captured the final four points winning the set, 25-19.
Similar to the first set, set three was back-and-forth until the very end. With the score tied at 13, seven of the next eight points were scored by Hiram in a run that included multiple Altoona attack errors, two Supan kills and one
Kilvio Montero kill. Up 20-15, the Lions stormed back scoring the next six points, taking the small 21-20 lead. Tied at 22, Altoona scored three of the final four points, winning the tight third set, 25-23.
The fourth set started with an explosive Hiram run, putting the Terriers up 9-2 in a run that was finished by a Supan kill and a
Matthew Albano service ace. The lead continued to hold, but Altoona came back slightly, now trailing 16-11. Penn State Altoona cut the lead to 23-19, but back-to-back attack errors from the Lions led to a 25-19 fourth set victory.
At the beginning of the fifth and final set, Altoona started with a 7-4 lead. After a Boehner kill, the lead was now 8-7 favoring the Lions. Four of the next five points were scored by Altoona leading to a 12-8 lead. The Lions went on to win the fifth set by a score of 15-12 picking up the win in five sets.
Supan and
Nathan Cassell each tallied a double-double with Supan collecting 22 kills and ten digs. Cassell registered 11 kills and ten digs.
Andrew Diaz de Padilla registered 27 assists with ten digs. Albano put up 18 assists.
Match #2: Penn State Behrend 3, Hiram 0
The second match of the day started as a back-and-forth set with Hiram trailing early at 6-5. Behrend scored the next six points with the home team getting ahead at 12-5. The Terriers cut the lead to 16-12 after an attack error, but the Behrend lead held firm. The Lions pulled away winning the first set, 25-13.
After a Supan kill, Hiram pushed ahead at 7-6 to start set two. Following the early run, Behrend posted four-straight points with the Lions again getting ahead. As the set progressed, Hiram kept in close, getting the score tied at 20 after a three-point run capped off by a Diaz de Padilla service ace. Behrend finished the set by scoring the final five points, winning 25-20.
Early in the third set, neither team got too far in front of the other. After a Boehner kill, Hiram trailed 9-8 with the visitors looking to force a fourth set. Five of the next six points were scored by the Lions, pushing ahead at 14-9. From that point on, the Behrend lead continued to grow. The set was finished with four of the final points going to the home team with the Lions winning, 25-16.
In match two, Supan again reached the double-figure mark with ten kills. Cassell and
Cory Fischer picked up four digs each with Diaz de Padilla getting 11 assists.
With the two losses, Hiram falls to 11-7 on the year and 5-3 in AMCC play.
A midweek non-conference clash takes place next for the Terriers with the team traveling to Alliance, Ohio facing Mount Union on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m.
