Eagles Fall in Four Sets to Division I Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ- The Juniata men's volleyball team put up a tough fight against Division I Princeton but the Tigers came away with a 3-1 win (19-25, 29-31, 25-19, 20-25) on Friday night at Dillon Gym. The Eagles' record now stands at 15-3 while Princeton improves to 7-5.

The Eagle were led on offense by Paul Kuhn's (York, PA/Central York) 16 kills. Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, MD/Howard) recorded a season-high 12 kills. Matt Elias (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) had 44 assists. He also had seven digs as did Mark Feiler (Mountville, PA/Hempfield). Kuhn added six digs and three block assists while Seeley chipped in five block assists.  The Eagles out hit the Tigers .376 to .263.

Juniata scored the first point in the first set on a service error but host Princeton tallied four straight points to lead 4-1. The Eagles got as close as 6-4 but the Tigers maintained a distance throughout the game and took the victory to lead 1-0.

The second set proved to be quite a battle. JC took an early lead and after Princeton closed to 17-16, the Eagles started to break away and rattled off four straight points to go up 21-16. Their advantage still stood at five points, 22-18, but the Tigers rallied to tie it all up at 22-all. The two teams traded off points and after Princeton led 26-25, the Eagles got a kill from Elias and then an error on the Tigers to go up 27-26. Princeton went on a brief 3-1 run to go ahead 29-28, but the Eagles denied match point with a kill from Seeley. Ultimately, Juniata succumbed to Princeton as the Tigers got two straight kills to take the game and lead 2-0 in the match.

The Eagles led 12-7 in the fourth set but the Tigers were eventually able to whittle the lead to 16-14. Juniata was able to outscore Princeton 9-5 down the stretch to come away with the win.

Juniata took the lead early in the fourth set but Princeton was able to recover and go ahead 9-7. The Eagles wrestled the lead back and led at one point 18-17. The Tigers, however, were just too much as they got off six straight points to leap ahead 23-18. Princeton got the last two points it needed to take the game at the match.

The Eagles return to Memorial Gymnasium tomorrow afternoon they host CVC rival Cairn at 1 p.m. Juniata then plays Wells College in non-conference action at 5 p.m.