Juniata men’s volleyball remains undefeated in CVC East Division

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata men's volleyball conquered two Continental Volleyball Conference East Division foes in the second CVC Round Robin weekend. The Eagles remain undefeated in conference action, advancing to 6-0 with tonight's wins, after posting 3-0 victories over both Philadelphia Biblical University and Stevenson University.

Set scores in the win over Philadelphia Biblical were 25-23, 25-13, and 25-18, while scores over Stevenson were 25-10, 25-15, and 25-12.

In the day's opening match, Juniata hit .431 to defeat a Philadelphia Biblical squad that was held to just a .218 hitting percentage.

Brian Jaron (Severna Park, Md./Mount St. Joseph) led the Eagles with nine kills to go with four block assists on his way to a team high 11.0 points, as 14 different players got into the match for Juniata.

Paul Ejups (Bay Shore, N.Y./West Islip), Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run), and Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) each had seven kills for Juniata, while Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) finished the match with five block assists. Ejups also had three total blocks. John Almquist (York, Pa./Central York) and Rob Strauss (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) split time at setter, with Almquist logging 19 assists and Strauss finishing with 11.

Mike Kraft  (York, Pa./Eastern York) turned up 11 digs for Juniata, while Almquist and Ben Krouse (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) each had five.

The opening set was the most competitive for Juniata, who had to fend off a Philadelphia Biblical squad that proved tough to shake.

Juniata briefly got some separation from PBU at 18-15 after a Bortak kill and back-to-back errors by Philly Bib. But the Crimson Eagles managed to tie things up at 19-19 on a Juniata attack error, and take a one-point lead on Ethan Mawhinney's service ace. A Mawhinney service error and a Madden kill gave Juniata a 21-20 lead, and six straight side out points advanced the score to set point for Juniata, 24-23. Madden closed out the set in Juniata's favor with a kill, off a set by Kraft.

Juniata continued on the day's success, hitting .524, well above its season average of .308, on its way to the three-set triumph over Stevenson. Juniata's offense wasn't the only shining moment; the Eagles defense held the Mustangs to a negative .044 attack percentage. 

The Eagles held control over the Mustangs throughout the whole match. Wolff led the team with 10 kills, on 13 attempts, allowing only one error. Bortak finished close behind with nine kills on 11 swings, to hit .727 on the match. Jaron and Ejups each contributed six kills, while Madden chipped in with five.

Almquist dished out 30 assists, and also supplied three kills. Kraft led the team with nine digs.

Juniata opened the match in commanding style when Madden began serving for the Eagles at
1-1 in the first. He promptly went on an eight-point run from behind the service line, rattling off three aces.

Juniata plays its final match of the CVC East round-robin weekend on Saturday, March 31, when it faces Eastern Mennonite at 4:00 p.m.

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