Eagles Sweep Terriers, Scarlet Hawks on Second Day of Hiram Spring Invitational

Hiram, Oh. – The Juniata men's volleyball team picked up two 3-0 victories, as they defeated Hiram (25-15, 25-10, 25-14) before sweeping Illinois Tech (25-23, 25-19, 25-20) on the second day of the Hiram Spring Invitational at Price Gymnasium. 

In the opening set with the score at 3-3, the Eagles went on a 10-4 run to push ahead 13-7. Later, leading 17-11, a kill from Mahlon Bender (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), two Hiram attack errors and a kill by Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) made it 21-11. A Terriers attack error gave JC set point and Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area) put down a kill to end set one. 

Set two saw JC have their most accurate hitting set of the match as they hit .667 and dominated throughout. Juniata leapt out to a 14-4 lead and never looked back as they took set two 25-10.

Hiram battled in the third set and managed to take a 9-10 lead early. A serving error, a block by Sean Cavanagh (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) and Stephen Ash (Elk Grove, Calif./Cosumnes Oaks), a block by Andrew Knapp (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South), an ace by Matt Schaeffer (Mount Wolf, Pa./Northeastern), a kill by Cavanagh, a Hiram attack error and finally a kill by Ash gave JC the lead back at 16-10. Juniata led 21-13 before three straight kills by William Hafen (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) gave JC match point. A Terrier service error ended the match.

The first set of the second match was tightest one of the day for Juniata, as they trailed by a few points for most of the set. Trailing 10-14 at one point, Juniata eventually took the lead at 20-19. The teams traded points to get to 23-23. A service error and an attack error by the Scarlet Hawks allowed Juniata to win set one 25-23.

Set two saw the teams traded the lead early before a service error and an attack error by Illinois Tech coupled with a Peterson kill made it 15-13 Juniata as the Eagles retook the lead. The Scarlet Hawks got within two at 18-16 before another JC run. Vasinko tallied a kill, two Illinois Tech attack errors, another Vasinko kill and a block by Hibner made it 23-16. JC reached set point at 24-19 after the Scarlet Hawks scored twice to keep the set going, but a Peterson kill ended set two 25-19.

Two kills from Vasinko and an Illinois Tech attack error put Juniata up 3-0 early and they would never trail.  The Scarlet Hawks managed to tie the score at 12-12 but Juniata responded with kill from Fick to retake the lead. Illinois Tech stayed within two at 22-20 before a kill from Bender, a Scarlet Hawks attack error and a kill from Fick ended the match.

Juniata will host Theil, Friday at 6:00.