Men's Volleyball Falls in Five to #10 Arcadia and #9 Vassar

GLENSIDE, Pa.- The Juniata men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches in five sets to ranked teams, falling 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 25-19, 21-25, 13-15) to #10 Arcadia before they lost to  #9 Vassar (25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 6-15), Saturday afternoon inside Alumni Gymnasium on the campus of Arcadia. 

The opening set saw the Knights get a small lead early as they held a two-point edge, 9-11. A service error, an ace from Sean Cavanagh (Cranberry Twp., Pa. / Seneca Valley), a block by David Hibner (Burke, Va. / Lake Braddock Secondary) and Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) to go with a kill from Robert Bowling (Columbus, Ohio / Hilliard Darby) put the Eagles back ahead. Arcadia managed to get ahead with a kill making it 16-17. Juniata took over from there, with a service error and two kills from Cavanagh sandwiched around one from Fick, making it 20-17. The Knights called timeout, but to no avail, as Fick put down another kill before an attack error stopped the JC onslaught momentarily. Kills from Hibner and Bowling got JC back on track, with a Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif. / Westlake Village) service error winning set one for the Eagles. 

The second set saw the Knights lead by as many as nine at 9-18, but the Eagles didn't give up, mounting a 7-2 surge of their own as a Cavanagh ace made it 16-20. Following a timeout, the Knights scored on a block before two straight Fick kills narrowed the deficit to three, but the Eagles couldn't get closer as the Knights took set two.  

The third set followed a similar script to the first as the two teams traded points, with the Eagles holding a narrow lead that the Knights kept chipping away at. A service error narrowed the Eagle lead to one, 19-18, but again the Eagles turned it up in the final part of the set. Kills from Fick and Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) to go with a Knight attack error made it 22-18. Arcadia called timeout, but it didn't stop the Eagles as Duffy combined with Young for two straight blocks to give JC set point. Arcadia managed to take the next point, but a service ace ended set three, 25-19.   

Set four saw Juniata lead early, but the Knights pulled even at 10-10 and managed to maintain the advantage the rest of the way. Arcadia led by four, 17-21, late before two Bowling kills brought Juniata back within two. But the Eagles couldn't close the gap as the Knights sent the match to set five, 21-25. 

Juniata never led in the final set, and while they never trailed by more than three, the Eagles couldn't ever pull ahead. With the score at 9-12, a service error and another Cavanagh ace brought the Eagles within one, but the Knights took the next two points. A kill from Hibner and another from Young made it 13-14, but following a final Knight timeout, they won on a kill. 

The opening set of the match against Vassar again saw the Eagles take control early, and then hold a three-point lead through the middle parts of the set. With the score at 17-14, kills from Duffy and Bowling to go with a service error made it 20-14. The Brewers managed to get within three, but the Eagles wound up taking set one on a service error, 25-20. 

Set two was tighter, but the Eagles again were holding the lead, but this time, Vassar managed to stay within three for most of the set. They got within one late for the last time at 22-21, but two straight Vassar errors pushed Juniata to set point. The Brewers took the next point before Fick smashed a kill to put JC up two sets to zero. 

The third set was tight early as the Eagles pulled even at 10-10 before the Brewers rattled off an 8-1 run and never looked back. Juniata got within four several times, the last time on a service error to make it 20-24, but Vassar put down a final kill to end set three and keep the match going.  

Set four saw the Eagles lead early before Vassar took over and the Eagles were playing catchup for most of the set. With the score at 17-20, two kills from Cavanagh, and two blocks from him and Hibner had the Eagles back ahead by one, 21-20. But the Brewers tallied three straight points before a Bowling kill broke up the run to make it 22-23. Vassar captured the final two points to send the match to a fifth set. 

The teams went point for point early as a Bowling kill made it 3-2 Juniata. Vassar completely took over from that point on as they scored six straight points on their way to a 6-15 win to take the match. 

The Eagles return home to begin CVC play against Marymount, Friday at 7:00.