Eagles Defeat Lasell; Shock #4 Nazareth at Juniata Invitational

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Juniata men's volleyball hosted two matches on Friday night at the Juniata Invitational. The Eagles dropped only one set all night as they defeated Lasell 3-1 (15-25, 27-25, 26-24, 25-22) in their first match and then followed that with an upset of #4 Nazareth, 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23).

"The team that just played is what we know we can be like," said head coach Pat Shawaryn afterwards. "That's the team we know we can be."

The Lasers led comfortably in the first set as the Eagles never challenged. In the second set, JC trailed 7-3 but rallied to take a 9-8 lead. After an attack error on Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, MD./Howard) tied the match at 9-9, a 3-0 run by the Eagles gave them a 12-9 advantage and forced a Lasell timeout.

Lasell would keep pace with the Eagles but Juniata still maintained a lead. The Lasers were able to tie it up at 22-all and then go ahead 23-22. A kill from Jake Dube (Altamont, N.Y./Guilderland) followed by an attack error on Lasell now gave the lead to Juniata, 24-23. The Lasers got a point back. Back to back service errors tied the set at 25-25. The Eagles picked up the last two points on a service error and a bad set to tie the match at 1-1.

The Lasers led in third set throughout and were up by as much as four points, 19-15. The lead remained at four points, 22-18, as Lasell seemed poised to claim the frame. An 8-2 run by the Eagles, which included the last four points of the set, would give them the win and a 2-1 lead.

The fourth set was tightly contested. The biggest lead was four points by Juniata at 24-20. The Lasers added two points to make it 24-22 but the Eagles got match point on a kill by Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area) to claim the win.

The Eagles had little time to rest as they went up against the Golden Flyers. Naz led in the first set by as much as 9-6. JC was able to chip away at the lead. With Nazareth leading 20-19, JC put up three straight points to go up 22-20. That was part of a 6-1 run to end the frame and give Juniata a 1-0 lead in the match.

Juniata led for most of the second set. Clinging to a 21-20 lead, JC put the Golden Flyers away with a 4-0 run to claim the stanza and go up 2-0.

The third set saw the Golden Flyers go ahead 14-10. A 9-3 run by the Eagles gave them a 19-17 lead. The advantage grew to 23-20. Naz was able to close to 24-23 but a service error on the Golden Flyers was the winning point that JC needed.

Quinn Looper (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) totaled 69 assists on the night. Against Nazareth, he picked up a double-double with 33 assists and 11 digs. Seeley tallied 26 kills with Vasinko adding 21 kills. Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) had six block assists against the Lasers.

Give Quinn Looper a lot of credit," said Shawaryn. "He brought a lot of energy and wouldn't let guys take plays off."

Juniata returns to action tomorrow afternoon as it goes up against #2 New Paltz at 1:30. The Eagles wrap up the day with #14 Hunter at 4:00 p.m.