Serving up defeat

The Men’s volleyball team has clinched another win early on in the season to Penn State Altoona.  The Behrend Lions, now 2-4 defeated Altoona Saturday night. In three sets with scores, of 25-12, 25-14 and 26-24. 

Senior Evan Fullerton led the team with 23 assists and junior Nate Steele added to the offense with 10 kills.  Kevin Smith, a freshman, contributed a team high of three blocks throughout the night.  The Lions dominated their opponents for the majority of the game, only being down by a few points in the third set.  After fighting back, both teams were tied at 24-24.  Junior Grant Kocher put away a kill to give Behrend game point.  To end the match, Steele and freshman middle hitter Tyler Karl blocked Altoona’s Titus Fernando for the win.

A second year team at Behrend, the Lions have set their expectations high this year.  Fullerton said the team’s goal is to “compete for the UVC Championship and get a couple victories against some of the top teams in the nation.”   

The Lions are on the road again this weekend with a UVC Crossover Tournament at Medaille.  “This weekend we can hopefully steal a win from Vassar and/or NYU and come out of the weekend with a winning record,” Fullerton said.  This will be a test for the Lions, as both NYU and Vassar are ranked in the top-15 in the nation.  Last year, the Lions upset top-seeded NYU in the first round of the UVC playoffs.  Time will tell if they can do it again.