ERIE — Cody Schnur began the season on the Penn State Behrend bench.

The Butler graduate ended it in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference record books.

Schnur, a 6-foot-4 freshman middle hitter on the Lions' men's volleyball team, had 148 kills and a .355 kill percentage. The latter figure not only set a Behrend single-season record, but ranks second all-time in AMCC annals.

He was also named Behrend's Rookie of the Year in men's volleyball.

“There's a natural adjustment any freshman has to make to the speed of the game in college,” Behrend coach Phil Pisano said. “The game is much faster than the high school or even club volleyball level.

“They have to learn that every rep matters, every single point matters.”

Schnur played on the Steel City travel club team that placed 13th at the national tournament in 2017.

Schnur wound up starting 18 games this season as the Lions finished 16-13, losing in the AMCC semifinals. The 16 wins marked a single-season high in the program's eight-year history.

“We had a couple of veteran players at my position when I got here,” Schnur said. “Once I got a chance to work into the rotation a little bit, I showed what I could do and I started getting more playing time.

“Eventually, I became a starter. It's the goal of every freshman to play, but I had to be patient.”

Schnur led Butler in kill percentage his last two high school seasons. He was a senior on a Golden Tornado squad that posted one of the best records in years.

“I'm not surprised Cody's done so well up there,” Butler coach Lew Liparulo said. “No. 1, he's an extremely hard worker. And he's an intelligent kid who understands the game.”

Majoring in Interdisciplinary Business and Engineering, Schnur carried a 3.91 grade point average in his first year of college. He also considered Elizabethtown and Thiel before deciding to attend Behrend.

He joined Seneca V alley graduates and Behrend seniors Tyler Herrmann and Anthony Sprentz on the Lions roster.

“I never played against those guys in high school, but I knew of them,” Schnur said. “They've both helped me a lot this year. I learned from them and I appreciate the time they took to help me along.

“Behrend has an excellent IBE program and that made it easy for me to choose to come here.”

Schnur had 64 blocks for the Lions volleyball team to go with his offensive success at the bnet.

“He is an excellent attack player,” Pisano said. “When we recruited him, I knew Cody would eventually excel in that role for us. I'm just surprised it happened this soon.

“As the season went on and he gained experience, his number of blocks went up as well. His defensive play really improved as he played.”

Schnur dabbled in numerous other sports in his younger years. He competed in track and field, played baseball, football and dek hockey. He is playing for East Butler in the Butler County Area Baseball League this summer.

But he leaves no mystery as to what his No. 1 sport is.

“Definitely volleyball,” Schnur said. “People don't realize how tough is it. I love the team aspect and how quickly you have to forget about a mistake you just made because you may be involved in the next play.

“My goal now is to build on what I was able to do here this year. I'd love to lead the league in kill percentage every year I play here and help the team win the league championship.”

Pisano is hopeful of the same.

“It's so hard to see the future with any player,” the coach said. “Injuries can always play a factor with anybody, but there's a very good chance Cody will develop into an excellent two-way player for us.

“I can see us winning some league championships with him in the mix, developing into a leader. There's good reason to believe that can happen.”