Posted: Mar 19, 2016

Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Setter at Penn St.-Altoona

Wells

(10-17, 6-8 NEAC)

Penn St.-Altoona

(14-7, 10-3 NEAC)

Final

Wells (10-17, 6-8 NEAC)

Penn St.-Altoona (14-7, 10-3 NEAC)

Game Leaders

Wells

K: Liam Kaylor - 13

B: 2 Players (#13, #16) - 3

D: Scott Litvin - 12

SA: 2 Players (#8, #12) - 1

Penn St.-Altoona

K: Matt Huey - 14

B: Matt Huey - 4

D: Matt Huey - 9

SA: Wally Rivera-Berrios - 1

Team Stats

Wells

Penn St.-Altoona

Hitting %

.069

.281

Blocks

7.0

6.0

Digs

Aces

Full stats

ALTOONA, Pa. – Junior Liam Kaylor (Falls Church, Va.) posted 13 kills to lead all members of the Wells College men's volleyball team on Saturday in the squad's 3-1 loss to the host Lions from Penn St.-Altoona. The Express fall to 10-17 overall and to 6-8 within conference play while Penn St.-Altoona improves to 14-7 overall and to 10-3 within the North Eastern Athletic Conference.

Wells won the first set, 25-23, but ended up falling in the next three sets via scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-14.

In addition to Kaylor's 13 kills, senior Derek Nipps (Turnersville, N.J.) threw down seven kills and added 13 assists, trailing the team's leader, Scott Litvin (Sayville, N.Y.), by only four assists. Litvin also picked up 12 of his teams' 37 total digs while freshman Ryan Turner (Liverpool, N.Y.) tallied three block assists.

A Nipps service ace tied the first set at 22 aside before the Express used an Altoona attacking error and a Kaylor kill to bring the match to set point. Following a Lions time out, with Kaylor serving, Penn St.-Altoona committed a service error to cap off a 25-23 set victory for the Express. Wells registered a match-high 11 kills in the first set on only 24 total attacks, earning the win despite the Lions hitting a solid .310 (15-6-29).

Penn St.-Altoona jumped out to a 12-4 lead and held the Express down throughout the second set, eventually building a 19-9 lead before a Wells timeout. The third set was much more of the same as a 17-17 tie became a 22-17 lead for the Lions after scoring five-straight points at a critical juncture.

The Lions flexed their muscles in the fourth and final set, going on a 10-1 run near the midpoint of the set to eventually build a 22-10 lead en route to the 25-14 win. In total, Penn St.-Altoona hit a dominant .281 with 55 kills on only 121 total attacks, committing only 21 attacking miscues. Jacob Byers led all Lions players with 12 kills while Billy Smith set up 42 kills for the hosts.

Wells has two North Eastern Athletic Conference matches remaining during the regular season of play. The Express will travel to Keuka for a 7 p.m. match this Wednesday, Mar. 23 before returning home for a Thursday evening match versus SUNY Poly at 7 p.m. within the Farenthold Athletic Wing in Aurora.