By Mia Gallagher · Sports Editor
After a slow start to the 2026 season, the Grove City College men’s volleyball team is off to the races, tallying three-set sweeps in each of its last four matches.
Last Friday, the Wolverines traveled to Penn State Behrend to take on Penn State Altoona, Hilbert and Penn State Behrend itself. With dominant wins across all nine sets and stellar individual performances in each match, Grove City enters this final weekend of quad-matches with momentum and enthusiasm.
The Wolverines kicked off their weekend with a Friday night matchup against Penn State Behrend, securing their first sweep with three hard-fought set victories of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-22.
Leading Grove City’s offensive effort against Penn State Behrend was freshman Evan DiMalanta, who notched 12 kills in the victory. DiMalanta was followed by junior classmates Carson Good and Max Gianneski, who added a combined 17 kills. Junior Craig Fair and freshman Thomas Krahe supported their hitters by tallying 26 and 12 assists, respectively.
Defensively against Behrend, sophomore Keith Otto posted a team-leading 10 digs. DiMalanta, Fair and Good also got in on the action, each contributing five digs.
Saturday morning, the Wolverines earned their second sweep of the competition with 25-21, 25-19 and 25-17 victories over Penn State Altoona.
Gianneski paced the Wolverines’ offense with 10 kills, followed by sophomore Reese Malcolm, who added seven. Senior Tieg Malcolm and Fair each tallied three aces in the victory, and Fair added 18 assists to his weekend total. Otto and Gianneski contributed a combined 21 digs to the team’s defensive stand.
Grove City closed its weekend with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-23 sweep of Hilbert, improving the program’s 2026 record to 5-4 overall.
DiMalanta recorded his second team-leading offensive performance of the weekend with 11 kills against Hilbert. Gianneski and Good each tallied seven kills in the nightcap. Krahe ended the match with a season-high 12 assists, and Otto chipped in 11 digs defensively.
After a week of rest, the Wolverines return to action at 7:30 p.m. this evening at home against Randolph. They will then host Olivet and Mount Aloysius tomorrow at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
