Men's Volleyball Earns Wins Over Thunder and Bearcats
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #3 Juniata men's volleyball team won twice, defeating Trine University 3-0 and St. Vincent College 3-0, Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium.
The Eagles opened with a sweep of Trine. The Eagles hit .364 in set one and closed the set on a 10-4 run to win the opener.
The Thunder keep things close in set two, with Juniata trailing by one late, 16-17. Two kills from Felix Baier and another from Octavian Sperry, and a Trine attack error made it 20-17. The Thunder got within two at 23-21, before Tyler Phillips and Chris Mellor combined for a block to get Juniata to set point. A Trine attack error ended set two, 25-21.
Juniata jumped ahead 7-1 and never looked back in set three, hitting a robust .500 and cruising to a 25-17 win to take the match.
Dante Palombo had eight kills (.800) with four solo blocks and two block assists. Baier amassed 11 kills (.562), six digs, a solo block, and two block assists.
The Eagles blew set one open against the Bearcats midway through set one. With the score at 14-15, JC dominated the rest of the way 11-1 with a Lukas Ricciardi ace ending set one 25-15.
Set two saw Juniata lead 12-4 early, but had to fend off a late push from the Bearcats, which got them within three at 21-18. A kill from Baier and two from Logan Peterson gave the Eagles a set point. Phillips put down a kill to end set two, 25-18.
An 11-1 run midway through the third set made it 18-8 Juniata, and the Eagles wound up taking the match on a Ricciardi kill.
Palombo had another strong match with 11 kills (.833) while Will Sierer had 32 assists, four kills, five digs and an ace.
Juniata will host Widener at 4:00 and SUNY New Paltz at 8:00 on Friday.