Lions Drop Five Setter to Mt. St. Vincent

RIVERDALE, NY – The Mount St. Vincent men's volleyball team came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Penn State Behrend 3-2 in non-conference action on Friday afternoon at the Peter Jay Sharp Center.

The Lions (6-8) won the first set 25-19 and then dropped a close 25-23 second set. Behrend took the lead once again in the third set with a 25-18 decision, but the Dolphins (9-9) rallied to win the fourth 25-14 and the fifth 18-16.

Tyler Cucullu led Mt. St. Vincent with 32 kills and Logan Dickover dished out 57 assists.

For the Lions, Trenton Munk (Baden, PA/Ambridge) tallied 20 kills and five blocks. Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) dished out 26 assists and Robert McMaster (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) made a career-high 20 digs.

Behrend managed an eight-point lead in the first set at 21-13 and used three kills to close out the set ahead 1-0 at 25-19. The lead in the second was smaller, taking a two-point advantage midway through the set. The Dolphins went on a 7-2 run to even the match at 1-all with a 25-23 win.

The Lions had a nine-point lead for most of the third set and finished with a seven-point win at 25-18. The match became tied at 2-all after the fourth. Mt. St. Vincent started with an 8-0 run and Behrend could not recover, forcing a decisive fifth set.

In a set that was tied seven times, it came down to the wire with Behrend having match point at 15-14. Cucullu tallied a kill to make it 15-all and then an error gave the Dolphins match point. Tyler Fiely (Cambridge Springs, PA/Cambridge Springs) kept Behrend alive with a kill. Cucullu got the next point with his 32 kill and then Mt. St. Vincent won on a setting error by the Lions.

Calvin Nowicki (Eden, NY/Eden) added 25 assists and Dillon Hildebrand (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) registered 16 kills.

Behrend returns to action tomorrow against MIT and Stevens in United Volleyball Conference (UVC) action. Matches begin at 11 a.m.