Men's Volleyball Defeats Wells in Four

AURORA, NY – Anthony Sprentz (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) tied a season best with 51 assists to lead Penn State Behrend past Wells 3-1 in non-conference men's volleyball action on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions (4-10) snapped a three-match skid with a 27-25, 23-25, 25-23 and 25-19 victory. Behrend had three players with double-digit kills, including Trenton Munk (Baden, PA/Ambridge) and Eric Theiss (Plum, PA/Plum) with 15 kills apiece. Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) added 12 kills and five digs in the win.

The Express (6-13) were led by Liam Kaylor with 16 kills, seven digs and two blocks.

As a team, the Lions hit a season-best .352 for the match, amassing 58 kills on 125 attacks and only 14 errors over four sets. The 53 assists were also a season high for Behrend.

Each set was close, coming down to the final points except for the fourth set. In the first, the Lions held a 20-16 lead until Wells went on a 6-0 run thanks to three straight aces from Brandon Perdicho for a 22-20 edge.

Two errors by the Express knotted the game for the first of four times until the finish. Behrend faced set point twice with the latter after a kill from Theiss before winning the set on an attack error, 27-25.

Wells won the second set in similar fashion as the Lions did with a kill and then capitalized on an attack error for a two-point victory.

The third set was point-for-point in a back-and-forth battle with Behrend relying on Theiss for set point and then forcing an attack error by the Express for another two-point win in favor of the Lions.

Behrend broke a 13-all tie in the fourth set with an 8-4 spurt for a 21-17 lead. Wells got within three points but that would be it down the stretch. Munk tallied a kill, and Theiss and Joey Reynolds (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) came up with the block for match points. The next point, the Express had an attack error to give the Lions a 3-1 decision.

Reynolds hit .778 on the match to finish with seven kills on nine attempts. Tyler Herrmann (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) added nine kills.

Behrend returns to action tomorrow at SUNY New Paltz for a tri-match, beginning at 11 a.m.