by Casey Burinskas

ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball was back at home Wednesday in the Adler Arena, where the Lions snuck by Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Mount Aloysius, 3-1, to pull out a win.

Penn State Altoona (4-11, 2-1 AMCC) took the first set 25-20, but Mount Aloysius (1-18, 1-3 AMCC) fought back for a 27-25 victory in the second. However, the Lions got back on track after that, winning the next two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-19 to post their second AMCC victory of the season.

Penn State Altoona got a match-high 23.5 points from Lukas Weathersbee (Altoona, PA/Altoona), who finished with 16 kills, seven aces, and one block assist. His total of seven aces ties for the most by a Lions player in a match in team history.

Caleb Fries (Altoona, PA/Altoona) had 14.5 points on 10 kills, three service aces, one solo block, and one block assist, and Jack McKenna (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) added 10 points on nine kills and a solo block.

Axel Jimenez (Los Angeles, CA/Malibu) had a team-high 19 assists while chipping in six digs, and Shawn Thomas (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) recorded 12 assists to go along with 11 digs.

Adam Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) totaled a match-high 15 digs.

Altoona struck first in the opening set with a Fries kill, and the two sides traded early points, with McKenna getting involved offensively and Weathersbee dominating from the outside, knotting the score at 3-3. Errors played a role in the opening plays, as both teams struggled with service and attack errors, keeping the set tight through the first 10 rallies. Midway through the frame, Mount Aloysius began to build separation, as several kills extended the Mounties' advantage to 13-10. But the Lions reeled off a 9-1 run to surge into the lead, including Weathersbee sparking the push with back-to-back service aces, and Altoona went up 19-14. The Lions stretched their lead to 22-17 after kills from Travis Johns (Elderton, PA/West Shamokin) and McKenna, and a Weathersbee kill got Altoona to set point, 24-20. After that, Weathersbee and Andrew Kubiak (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) teamed up on a block to take the first set, 25-20.

Starting the second, kills from Weathersbee and Ethan Wooldridge (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) helped the Lions grab an early edge, 3-0, but the Mounties answered behind steady production to take a 7-6 lead. The middle portion of the set was where momentum swung repeatedly. Mount pieced together a small run, including a kill and a service ace, to move ahead 12-9. But the Lions regained composure with Weathersbee from the outside, and Fries sparked a major shift from the service line, as Altoona used a 5-0 run to go up 18-15. The Mounties responded with kills and a few Altoona attack errors to build a 24-23 advantage, but two Mount Aloysius errors gave the Lions a 25-24 lead. The Mounties got a kill to tie the score, then used a service ace to gain set point. A final kill sealed the 27-25 decision, as Mount Aloysius swiped the second set from Altoona.

Fries opened the third set with multiple swings from the outside to help Altoona grab a 5-2 lead. Even as Mount Aloysius responded with points, the Lions stayed aggressive offensively. The turning point came during Weathersbee's strong run from the service line. Holding a slim 7-5 lead, Altoona strung together several points, highlighted by multiple service aces from Weathersbee, to go up 12-5 and force a Mount Aloysius timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mounties answered and closed the gap to 13-10. But Altoona expanded its lead after that, going up by as many as nine points later in the set, including aces from Wooldridge, Fries, and Weathersbee. A Mount Aloysius attack error closed the set at 25-18, as the Lions used their steady scoring in the third set to go up 2-1 in the match.

The Lions' starting rotation battled through a tightly contested opening stretch in the fourth set. The teams exchanged points early, as Weathersbee and Fries connected off Jimenez assists to keep the score even at 3-3. Altoona continued to keep things close with a block from Wooldridge and Johns, and a McKenna kill in transition, to stay within a point of a Mounties' lead, 7-6. Through the set, momentum continued to swing. Consecutive Mountie errors helped Altoona inch ahead 10-9, and a strong serving run from Weathersbee, highlighted by his service ace and McKenna's kill, extended the lead to 18-13 and forced a Mount Aloysius timeout. Kubiak added a kill off a Thomas assist, and McKenna found the floor again from the right side to maintain separation as the Lions pushed past the 20-point mark. Mount Aloysius attempted one final push, trimming the gap to 23-18. However, Altoona remained composed. A late Mountie service error gave the Lions a set point, and Fries sealed the 25-19 win against their AMCC opponent with a kill.

Next, the Lions will be back on the road against non-conference opponent Messiah University on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m.