PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Men's Volleyball (5-1, 0-0 PAC) eked out a 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 25-27, 16-14) victory on Tuesday night over Penn State Altoona (1-6, 0-0 AMCC).
 
Junior Ben Shelestak recorded a match-high 19 kills along with 11 digs and 2 aces. First year Derek Paul also had a double-double with 10 kills, 15 digs and 5 blocks. Junior Tim McCabe finished the match with 8 kills, 12 digs and 4 blocks for the Cougars. Junior Jordan Haas tallied a team-high 6 blocks for Chatham. Sophomore RJ Nagg dished out 40 assists and recorded 14 digs with 2 aces, and sophomore Luke Hoolahan contributed 13 digs.
 
The first set was competitive, with the Cougars leading 19-18 before winning 6 of the final 7 points of the set to take a 1-0 lead. The Nittany Lions led the second set 15-12, but a kill by Armani George would give Chatham a 17-16 advantage. Then, with the score knotted at 20, the Cougars won 4 points in a row and two McCabe kills put Chatham up 2 sets to 0. The Cougars looked poised to win the match, leading 17-9 in set three after four Shelestak kills, but a 16-4 run by Penn State Altoona kept them in the match. Chatham then led 22-16 in the fourth set before the Nittany Lions again stayed alive by winning 11 of the next 14 points. In the decisive set, two Shelestak kills gave the Cougars a 4-0 advantage. Penn State Altoona would come back to lead 14-13 with match point, but two errors by the Nittany Lions and a match-winning kill by Paul allowed Chatham to win the match.
 
The Cougars had a .022 hitting percentage in the match, while Penn State Altoona attacked at a .011 clip. Chatham held a 47-40 edge in kills.
 
Men's Volleyball returns to the AFC for two matches on Saturday, a 1 p.m. tilt against Baldwin Walace before a 5 p.m. matchup against Juniata.