WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball hit the road once again Saturday to compete in a non-conference tri-match with Wilkes University and Cairn University, hosted at Wilkes' Marts Center.

Penn State Altoona (2-7) started its day with a 3-1 loss to the host Colonels, but the Lions bounced back to snap their seven-match skid with a 3-1 victory against Cairn.

Match One: Wilkes 3, Penn State Altoona 1

The Lions got off to a good start in their first match of the day by winning the first set 25-22. But Wilkes (5-6) turned the tables on Penn State Altoona, taking the next three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-18, and 25-21 to win the match in four.

Jack McKenna (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) recorded a team-high 13.5 points for the Lions on 12 kills, one solo block, and one block assist. Lukas Weathersbee (Altoona, PA/Altoona) had 12 points on 10 kills and two service aces, and Caleb Fries (Altoona, PA/Altoona) finished with 10 points on five kills, a match-high four aces, and one solo block.

Travis Johns (Elderton, PA/West Shamokin) earned a team-best 11 assists, while Axel Jimenez (Los Angeles, CA/Malibu) and Shawn Thomas (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) tallied assist totals of nine and eight, respectively.

Adam Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) led the Lions in digs with 11.

Penn State Altoona came from behind to win the first set, overcoming an early 7-2 lead by Wilkes. After that, the Lions went on an 11-2 run to surge ahead, 14-9, getting kills from Weathersbee and Brody Cocca (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks South), a total of three blocks between McKenna, Cocca, Johns, and Jason Velez (Forest Hill, MD/Bel Air), and back-to-back service aces from Joshua Harclerode (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) during that span. Penn State Altoona kept its lead, but Wilkes chipped away and made it a two-point set, 23-21. A service error by the Colonels got the Lions to set point, 24-21, and one play later, McKenna's kill gave Penn State Altoona a 25-22 win.

The Lions and Colonels battled through an evenly matched second set that featured 14 ties. With the score knotted at 22-22 late, the teams traded points, as Wilkes picked up a score on a Lions service error and Penn State Altoona added a point on a Fries kill. But the home team broke the 23-23 tie on a kill, then used a Lion attack error to take the set 25-23 and even the match at 1-1.

Wilkes jumped out to a 6-2 lead to open the third set, before Penn State Altoona worked its way back. A 7-1 run by the Lions gave them an 8-7 lead, as two Weathersbee kills and aces from Fries and Weathersbee helped Penn State Altoona push ahead. But Wilkes responded with a run of its own, outscoring the Lions 11-3 over the next 14 points to seize an 18-11 advantage. A kill by Velez helped Penn State Altoona get back to within four, 20-16, and an attack error by the Colonels later kept the difference at four, 22-18. But Wilkes scored the last three points of the set to win it 25-18 and jump ahead in the match.

The fourth set was another tight affair, as early kills from Velez, Fries, Cocca, and McKenna helped Penn State Altoona to a 9-9 tie with the home squad. The Colonels edged ahead over the next several points, scoring six of the next nine to go up 15-12. Penn State Altoona got back to within one, 18-17, on a McKenna kill, and he added another kill late in the set to keep the Lions within two, 22-20. But Wilkes reeled off three of the following four points to prevail 25-21 and win the match in four sets.

Match Two: Penn State Altoona 3, Cairn 1

The Lions were able to finish their day on a winning note, taking care of Cairn (2-10) in four sets to break their seven-match winless streak. Penn State Altoona won the first set, 25-23, before the Highlanders countered with a 25-21 victory in the second. But the Lions reclaimed the lead with a 25-21 win in the third, then had a commanding 25-15 victory in the fourth to defeat Cairn.

Fries posted a team-high 22.5 points on 19 kills, two aces, one solo block, and one block assist. Weathersbee had 16 points on 15 kills and a solo block, and his .583 attack percentage is the fourth-best by a Lions player in a match in team history.

Cocca added 8.5 points on six kills, three block assists, and one solo block, while McKenna and Velez chipped in 6.5 points apiece. McKenna had six kills and a block assist, while Velez totaled four kills, two solo blocks, and one block assist.

Johns again led Penn State Altoona in assists with 18, and he also contributed two kills and two block assists. Jimenez finished with 17 assists to go along with five digs.

Chan and McKenna tied for the team lead in digs with seven each.

Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a 10-7 lead in the first set, helped by points from Weathersbee, Fries, Cocca, and Johns. Cairn scored the next three points to tie the score at 10-10, but a McKenna kill and Fries solo block helped the Lions boost their lead back to three, 14-11. The Highlanders again responded, this time overtaking Penn State Altoona's lead to eventually claim a 22-20 advantage late in the set. But the Lions scored four straight points after that on kills from McKenna, Weathersbee, and Velez, along with a Cairn attack error, to get to set point, 24-22. After a service error, Weathersbee delivered a kill to win the set, 25-23, for Penn State Altoona.

Penn State Altoona started the second set with a slim lead, 10-9, including getting three kills from Fries and two from Fletcher Fisher (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin). But Cairn used an 11-4 run to leap in front, 20-15. Penn State Altoona got kills from Fries and Fisher later in the set, along with a duo block by Cocca and Johns, but the Highlanders still held their lead and ultimately won the second set, 25-21.

The Lions shook off an early 5-2 deficit by scoring seven of the next 10 points, three of which came courtesy of Fries kills. Later, Penn State Altoona trailed 14-13 before three Weathersbee kills helped spearhead a 5-0 run by the Lions that gave them an 18-14 advantage. After that, Penn State Altoona got kills from Weathersbee, Andrew Kubiak (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora), Johns, and Fries to stay in front, and a Fries kill ended the set at 25-21, in favor of the Lions.

Holding a 2-1 advantage in the match, Penn State Altoona carried its momentum into the fourth and ultimately final set, as kills from Velez, Fries, Weathersbee, and Cocca helped propel the Lions to an 8-2 lead early in the set. Cairn embarked on a 9-3 run to make it a one-point difference, 12-11, but Penn State Altoona added some padding to its lead by scoring the next five points, making it 17-11. Two Cocca kills in a row boosted the Lions' lead to 20-12, and a McKenna kill kept his team ahead by eight, 22-13. McKenna and Velez teamed up on a block to extend Penn State Altoona's lead to 10 points, 24-14, and a Velez kill iced a 25-15 victory in the fourth set for the Lions, giving them a four-set match win.

Coming up, Penn State Altoona plays its first home match of the season next Saturday, February 14, at 12 p.m. That match also represents the Lions' Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opener, as Penn State Altoona hosts league foe Penn State Behrend.