Men's Volleyball Opens Their Season With a Victory

HUNTINGDON, Pa.-The Juniata men's volleyball team opened their season with a sweep 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-22) against Daemen to open the Juniata Invitational in front of a full house at Memorial Gymnasium Friday evening. 

It was back and forth opening set as the Eagles would build a small lead before the Wildcats rallied. After they pulled within two, at 8-6, JC created some separation with a quick 4-0 surge. Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) had a block and a kill, Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Shadow Ridge) added a kill along with an attack error by Daemon caused them to call timeout. Later, with the score at 15-9, another Eagle rally essentially sealed it. Leland Hacecky (Ashburn, Va. / Stone Bridge) put down a kill, Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) and David Hibner (Burke, Va. / Lake Braddock Secondary) combined for a kill then Peterson and Hibner combined for one. Hackey added an ace before Hibner mashed another kill to make it 20-9. The Eagles wound up taking their first set of the year, 25-12. 

The second set started similarly to the first, with the Wildcats pulled within one at 13-12. A service error and an ace from Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif. / Westlake Village) pushed the lead back to three, with Daemon tallying two straight kills to make it 15-14. From that point on, the Eagles dominated the set as they only let the Wildcats score once more. A Daemon attack error, another Haceky ace, along with kills from Peterson and Hibner made it 19-14. Following a timeout, Haceky served up another two aces, Hibner added a solo block and a Wildcat attack error made it 23-14. Daemon got their one point before another error and a Hibner ace ended set two, 25-15.  

The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and the Eagles had to keep clawing back. With the score at 11-15, Peterson smashed three straight kills along with a Wildcat attack error tied things at 15-15. A 7-3 surge from the visitors put the Eagles down 18-22, but again Juniata shut it down late, this time to end the match. A Peterson kill along with two from Stephen Ash (Elk Grove, Calif. / Cosumnes Oaks) had JC within one and forced a Wildcat timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Ash tallied a solo block and Young got his second kill before two straight attack errors from Daemon ended the match. 

The Eagles hit .365 for the match while holding the Wildcats to .080. 

They return to action tomorrow against Wittenberg at 3:00.