GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's volleyball team opened the second and final day of the Knights Invitational with a 3-0 victory over Wilkes University before dropping a 3-1 decision to Alvernia University to close the day.
 
FOR THE RECORD: The Knights are now 2-2 in their first varsity season, as were the Colonels and Crusaders following their respective matches with Arcadia.
 
ARCADIA 3, WILKES 0 (25-20, 36-34, 25-20)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: The first game saw Wilkes holding a 14-13 edge following a kill by Dylan Smith, but a kill from freshman Bryce Galloway sparked a 7-1 run for the Knights, allowing them to build a 20-15 lead. A three-point run put Arcadia up 24-18 before a kill from freshman Robie Moctezuma three points later gave the Knights to 25-20 win.  The third game played out in similar fashion, with the Knights using a six-point run to go up 20-15 before trading points until freshman Austin Braas' kill gave Arcadia a 25-20 win.
 
The two team exchanged runs throughout the middle game, in which the Colonels led 34-33 following an Arcadia error. The Knights closed the game with three unanswered points to record the 36-34 win, starting with a kill from Braas and ending on a service ace from classmate Edwin Waters Jr.
 
ARCDIA LEADERS: Freshman Jason Manley hit .389 with a match-high 20 kills while registering four blocks to lead the Knights. Moctezuma finished with seven kills and five blocks, while Braas and Galloway added six kills each. Sophomore Alvyn Abraham handed out 40 a match-high assists with four blocks and five digs.
 
WILKES LEADERS: John Pietrzyk led the Colonels with 10 kills, while Dylan Smith added seven kills and 12 digs. Daniel Sales notched 28 assists and six digs.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: The Knights outscored the Colonels 62-43 in the match, totaling 43 kills, 12 blocks and seven aces while hitting 25.5 percent. Wilkes totaled 32 kills, five aces and six blocks while hitting 8.5 percent.
 
ALVERNIA 3, ARCADIA 1 (23-25, 26-24, 19-25, 19-25)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Each of the first two games was tightly contested. The first was tied at 23 following a kill from Waters Jr. before a pair of Arcadia miscues gave Alvernia the final two points of the set for the 25-23 final. A kill from Manley late in the second gave Arcadia a 24-21 lead before Collin Welteroth started a three-point burst for the Crusaders to the things up at 24-all. Justin Gibbs' service error put Arcadia up one and Manley's ace gave the Scarlet and Grey a 26-24 win to tie the match at one game each.
 
A three point run provided Alvernia an 18-12 cushion in the third on its way to a 25-19 win to go up two games to one, while a five-point run put the Crusaders up 18-10 in the fourth on their way to another 25-19 win for the 3-1 final.
 
ARCADIA LEADERS: Manley totaled a match-high 14 kills with six digs and three aces for the Knights, while Moctezuma totaled 10 kills in the match. Braas added seven kills with three digs, while Abraham finished with 37 assists and three digs.
 
ALVERNIA LEADERS: Welteroth led the way with 12 kills and four digs, while Ralph Lunati hit .476 with 11 kills and just one error on 21 attempts. Spencer Matthews hit .615 with nine kills and one error on 13 swings, while Gibbs handed out a match-high 39 assists with three kills and four digs.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Arcadia outscored Alvernia 53-51 with 43 kills, but hit just 13.8 percent in the match while recording 28 attack errors. The Crusaders hit 36.6 percent as they totaled 45 kills and just 11 attack errors. The Knights had a 9-2 advantage in service aces, while Alvernia held a 4-1 edge in blocks.