MVB rebounds from loss to No. 7 Nazareth to down D-II Grand Canyon

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College men's volleyball closed out a long weekend of competition with a 3-1 win over Division II Grand Canyon University, Saturday night at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

Set scores for the Eagles were 25-19, 25-23, 12-25, and 25-17. 

Middles Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) and Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) each had 11 kills for the Eagles, with Wolff tacking on seven total blocks. Outside hitters Paul Kuhn (York, Pa./Central York) and Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) each had seven terminations.

Juniata (12-6) hit just .193 for the match, with John Almquist (York, Pa./Central York) recording 34 assists at the helm of the Eagles' offensive effort. However the Eagles held Grand Canyon (11-6) to just .107 hitting, as the Antelopes recorded 41 combined service and attack errors.

Grand Canyon's Jake Wekell finished with a match-high 12 kills while Ben Ponnet added 11.

In set one, Juniata grabbed a decisive lead on a four-point run that began with a Wolff kill, and eventually resulted in a 19-15 lead for the Eagles.  Six sideout points later the Juniata lead had advanced to 22-18, and a Grand Canyon attack error on Cameron Andrew's (Dallas, Texas/The Greenhill School) serve stretched the Juniata lead to 23-18. Two more sideout points got Juniata to set point, and a double block by Wolff and Almquist gave Juniata the set.

The Eagles had to engineer a late surge to pull out the win in set two, after the Antelopes tied the set at 19-19. An Antelope service error followed by an attack error gave the Eagles a 21-19 lead; after trading sideout points, another Wolff-Almquist block put the Juniata lead at 23-20.

Grand Canyon cut the margin to one point, 23-22, on a Ponnet kill and a Juniata attack error, but the Eagles reached set point on a Wolff solo block. The Eagle win in set two was delayed for one point on a kill by the 'Lopes Wekell, but a Wolff kill clinch the win.

The Antelopes took set three in commanding fashion, breaking open a 5-5 set with three straight points. Grand Canyon got another four-point run that resulted in a 18-10 Antelope lead, and Grand Canyon picked up points late in the set on four straight Wekell aces.

Juniata put set four out of reach on a six-point run off Almquist's serve, including a pair of aces that left the Eagles with an 18-8 advantage. Another three-point run late in the set, including consecutive kills by Wolff and Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) got the Eagles to within one point of match point. A Ponnet service error followed immediately by a GCU attack error closed out the match for the Eagles.

In the Eagles' opening contest of the day, Juniata dropped a 3-1 decision to seventh-ranked Nazareth College, by set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, and 25-23.

Bortak paced Juniata offensively with 12 kills on 18 swings with a .556 hitting percentage and seven block assists, while Wolff finished the match with nine terminations behind a .500 attack rate and logged six block assists.  Kuhn logged eight kills to go with six total blocks. 

Almquist recorded 40 assists as Juniata hit .242 for the match. Kraft sprawled for 13 digs, while Almquist turned up eight digs.

The Eagles had a nearly wire-to-wire victory in the first set, eventually capturing the win on a double-block by Madden and Bortak.  Juniata hit .500 in that opening frame, while keeping Nazareth to a .094 hitting percentage.

Juniata jumped out to a 4-1 lead in set two on back-to-back kills by Wolff and a double-block by Madden and Wolff. The Eagles still held a lead as late as 19-18, but a Brody Cord kill and a pair of Juniata attack errors put the Golden Flyers into the lead.  Nazareth got to set point on a Justin Waldorf service error, but the Golden Flyers were unable to close out the frame until another Cord kill on set point number four.

Another late surge carried Nazareth past Juniata in set three, and the Golden Flyers led most of the way in set four before closing out the match on a Rob Kraft kill.

Juniata returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 29, when the Eagles host Thiel College in a Continental Volleyball Conference East Division match. Start time at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center is set for 7:00 p.m.

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