Men’s Volleyball defeated in conference action at Penn State Altoona

ALTOONA, Pa. --- Carlow University men's volleyball lost a 3-0 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest to Penn State Altoona on the road Tuesday night.

For only the second time this season, the Celtics took the first set to a win by two situation, but the Lions (3-8, 1-1 AMCC) scored the 31-29 win. Penn State Altoona swept the match, 25-16 and 25-20.

Gavin McLain (Acworth, Ga./North Paulding HS) led the Celtics with nine kills and recorded five of Carlow's eight blocks on the night. Angelo Fernandez (Williamsport, Pa./St. John Neumann Regional Academy) picked up a game- and season-high 11 digs.

It was a back and forth affair throughout the first set. Carlow jumped out to a 9-4 lead to start before the Lions strung together an 8-2 run to lead, 13-11.

The Celtics tallied a 9-3 run to regain the advantage, ahead 20-16. For every point Carlow scored, Penn State Altoona scored two, and before long the game was tied at 24-all.

A kill from Rohan Bhattarai (Baldwin, Pa./Baldwin HS) put Carlow up, 25-24, before back-to-back kills gave the Lions a 26-25 lead.

Penn State Altoona tied the score twice more, and an error on the attack saw Carlow up, 29-28.

A Celtics service error handed the ball back to the Lions, who landed a kill and ended the set with a service ace.

Penn State Altoona led 18-7 in the second set until the Celtics put together a 9-3 run to trail by five. The Lions scored five unanswered points to end the second set, 25-16.

Carlow fared better in the third set, but an eight point lead for the Lions midway through afforded them a decent buffer enroute to a 25-20 win.

Caleb Fries led the Lions with a game-high 14 kills, and Adam Chan added eight digs.

The Celtics host Bethany (W.Va.) for a 6 p.m. match Feb. 19.