Men’s Volleyball drops two games in tri-match at Penn State Behrend

ERIE, Pa. --- Carlow University men's volleyball traveled to Erie for a tri-match at Penn State Behrend Sunday.

Host Penn State Behrend (5-10, 1-1 AMCC) defeated the Celtics (2-9, 0-1 AMCC) in three straight sets, while Carlow fell, 3-1, to SUNY Polytechnic Institute (8-11) in the second match of the day.

Game 1 vs. Behrend: L, 3-0 (12-25, 21-25, 12-25)

Will Piccolino led the Celtics with seven kills and five digs. Russ Cyprowski added six kills and five digs, and Logan Alexander added six digs in the effort.

The Lions jumped out to an 11-7 lead to begin the first set before an error put Carlow within three points. A kill, a Carlow error and back-to-back aces put Behrend ahead, 15-8, prompting a Carlow timeout.

Ahead 16-10, the Lions outscored Carlow 9-2 – of which six of those points were errors – to win the first set, 25-12.

The Celtics tied the score twice early in the second set, but a 10-3 run afforded Behrend a 19-11 advantage later. Carlow rallied to cut Behrend's lead to four before a service error saw the Lions with the set point. Ryan Callahan swung on a kill to keep Carlow in the game until Behrend scored its last point in the next rally to win 25-21.

A 6-0 run put the Lions ahead 8-2 early in the third set, and another 6-0 run late in the set gave Behrend a wide berth of 21-8 en route to a 25-12 victory and the sweep.

The Lions held Carlow to single digit kills through all three sets and hit .403 as a team in the game. Behrend recorded 11.5 blocks on the day to Carlow's single solo block from Cyprowski.

Daniel Easly led the Lions with seven kills, and Joshua Elegeer added seven digs.

Game 2 vs. SUNY Poly: L, 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 18-25, 22-25)

The Celtics fared better in the second match of the day, taking the Wildcats to four sets.

Cyprowski led Carlow with a game-high 16 kills and Piccolino added 12. James Stone recorded a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs, while Alexander led the team with 16 digs.

SUNY Poly outscored the Celtics 7-1 to lead 7-4 early in the first set. Both teams tied the score several times before a 4-0 run gave the Wildcats an 18-15 advantage and prompted a Carlow timeout. The Celtics tied the game again at 18-all, but a SUNY Poly kill set off a 7-2 run to end the game 25-21 in favor of the Wildcats.

Carlow trailed the majority of the second set until the very end. Two kills from Cyprowski and an attacking error tied the game at 19-all before back-to-back kills put the Wildcats ahead two. Another error and another Cyprowski kill tied the game at 21 before a SUNY Poly kill gave them the 22-21 lead.

Cyprowski landed another blow, Joshua Lee swung on a kill and a service ace from Stone put Carlow ahead, 24-22. An attacking error afforded the Wildcats a point, but Piccolino landed the decisive point to give Carlow the 25-23 victory with the match tied, 1-1.

The Celtics trailed 17-10 midway through the third set. A Wildcats service error after a Carlow timeout allowed the Celtics to string together four points in a row, cutting SUNY Poly's lead to three.

The Wildcats allowed Carlow just three points the remainder of the set to win, 25-18.

The teams tied the score several times to start the fourth set before a kill and two attack errors gave Carlow a 9-7 lead. The teams traded leads, tying the game again at 15-all as SUNY Poly put together a 5-1 run to lead, 20-16.

Carlow took advantage of two errors, and an ace from Piccolino saw the Celtics trailing by one. A Carlow service error and a subsequent ace gave SUNY Poly a 23-20 lead before another kill from Cyprowski and an attack error put Carlow within one point once again.

A Celtics service error allowed SUNY Poly set and match point, and the Wildcats landed a kill to end the set, 25-22, and the match in their favor.

Jason Aubrey and Jordan Weir led the Wildcats with 12 kills apiece while Peter Gottler added 11. Aubrey recorded 10 digs and Brendan Palmer tallied 25 assists.

The Celtics return to action with a 7 p.m. AMCC game at Penn State Altoona Feb. 28.