Men's Volleyball Splits at UVC Crossover

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Penn State Behrend men's volleyball team split a pair of United Volleyball Conference (UVC) matches on Saturday, falling to No. 11 Stevens 3-0 before defeating Bard 3-0 in the nightcap.

The Lions (4-2, 2-1 UVC) battled the nationally-ranked Ducks in the first match and fell short 25-23, 25-17, 31-29. Behrend finished the day with a 25-14, 25-20 and 25-15 over Bard.

In the first match, Ty Sheehan (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) led with 15 digs and six kills. Antonio Vazquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/UHS) and Nathan Steele (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) combined for 17 kills, while Mitch Farabaugh (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) dished out 33 assists.

Behrend trailed the first set by most four points and then managed to tie the game at 23-all thanks to a pair of kills from Kevin Smith (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin), but two attack errors allowed Steven to take a 1-0 in the match.

The Lions could not recover in the second set and then pushed the third game to extra point, but could not get the set win to force a fourth game.

Against Bard, Smith led Behrend with 13 kills and Derek Polishen (Plum, PA/Plum) tallied 12 digs. Eric Theiss (Plum, PA/Plum) contributed eight kills, five digs and two blocks.

The Lions only trailed on the first point of the first set the entire match against the Raptors. Otherwise, Behrend dominated the remainder of the points. Vazquez served 12 straight points in the first set, helping the Lions take a 12-1 lead that would turn into a 25-14 victory.

Behrend held off Bard in the second set by only five points before reverting to the first-set play and posting a 10-point win for a 3-0 victory over the Raptors.

The Lions return to action tomorrow against NYU at 10 a.m.