Men's Volleyball Sweeps Messiah at Farm Show Complex

HARRISBURG, Pa.- The Juniata men's volleyball team cruised past Messiah, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-19), Friday evening at the Farm Show Complex.

The first was the tightest, as the Falcons led 7-8 early before Juniata took the lead. The Eagles maintained the narrow lead, with a Messiah service error and a kill by Sean Cavanagh (Cranberry Twp., Pa. / Seneca Valley) putting JC ahead, 20-16. Messiah rallied one las time to get within one, 22-21. The Eagles called timeout and David Hibner (Burke, Va. / Lake Braddock Secondary) put down a kill to push the lead back to two. The teams traded points,  with the Eagles eventually winning on a Messiah service error. 

Set two saw Juniata jump ahead early with a kill from Cavanagh, an ace from Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) and a Falcon attack error made it 3-0. The teams traded points to get to 4-2 before three more Falcon errors made it 7-2 and Messiah called timeout. Juniata maintained their advantage and kills from Hibner and Robert Bowling (Columbus, Ohio / Hilliard Darby) along with a block by Duffy made it 20-11. Messiah scored the next four points to make it 20-15 and JC took a timeout. A big kill by Bowling and another kill from Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif. / Westlake Village) pushed the lead back to seven. Juniata took set two on a kill from Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township). 

Juniata had their best hitting set in the third as they hit a sizzling .524 and pushed ahead early and cruised from there. The Falcons led at 6-7 before two errors from the Falcons, another Cavanagh ace and kill from Bowling and Hibner made it 11-7. Messiah managed to close the gap to two, 13-11, but never got closer the rest of the way.

Juniata will take on Saint Vincent at 11:00 and Lancaster Bible at 4:00 on Saturday.