GENEVA DEFEATS BEHREND IN MVB FIVE SET THRILLER

In a match befitting a championship final, Geneva College defeated Penn State Behrend to claim their first AMCC men's volleyball title on Saturday.

Their regular season clash just two weeks ago was a four set marathon won by the Lions, 3-1. No more than three points separated the two teams in any set.  Today's match was more of the same, only longer.

Behrend led most of the first set until the Golden Tornadoes clawed back to tie it at 21. They couldn't hold on and the Lions finished with a 25-22 win.

Geneva didn't look back and came out firing in set 2 to take a 6-3 lead.  They lengthened the gap to five as the set went on but the Lions climbed back to within two with the score 20-18.  They persevered to tie it at 22 and again at 24, completing the comeback with a 26-24 decision for a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Golden Tornadoes again led most of the way in set 3 but they let the Lions sneak in at 21-all. A service error by Behrend and a service winner by Geneva helped them close out the set, 25-22 and extend the match to 2-1 still in favor of Behrend.

The fourth set was all Geneva. After some early back and forth, the Golden Tornadoes went on an eight point run and never looked back, cruising to a 25-13 victory to set up a winner-take-all set five.

Geneva led 8-6 at the changeover, then added to their lead slowly but surely, cementing their first ever AMCC title win and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament with a 15-11 final decision.

The Golden Tornadoes were led by Byron Spear (25 kills, 12 digs) and Jake Williams (14 kills, 17 digs).  Both were named to the all-tournament team.

Penn State Behrend saw standout efforts by Owen Wienczkowski (13 kills, 2 BA) and Dylan Buzalka (12 kills, 16 digs) in the championship match.  Adrian Martinez (16 digs) and Alex Jackson (42 assists) were the Lions' representatives on the all-tournament team.

The NCAA tournament field will be announced on Monday. 

All-Tournament Team
Geneva College - Jake Williams, Byron Spear
Penn St. Behrend - Adrian Martinez, Alex Jackson
Thiel College - Zac Smith
Saint Vincent College - Matthew Minkin
Hilbert College - Alex Overhoff
Hiram College - Kyle Martini