Eagles Narrowly Defeated in Five-Set Thriller by Wittenberg in NCAA Second Round

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The #2 Juniata men's volleyball team lost a heartbreaker to Wittenberg University, 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 26-24, 23-25, 13-15), Friday afternoon in a raucous Memorial Gymnasium. 

Tyler Phillips totaled 21 kills (.326), five digs, and four block assists, while Felix Baier had 14 kills (.171), an ace, four assists, and six digs. Will Sierer tallied 49 assists, an ace, three kills, 15 digs, and three blocks. Dante Palombo had nine kills (.412), an assist, and six blocks, while Chris Mellor contributed nine kills (.300) and two digs. Octavian Sperry added 10 kills (.259), two aces, two digs, and 15 digs. Andrew Byrne had eight digs and seven assists. 

The Tigers hit .241 while Juniata hit .107 in the opening set, and the Tigers took set one, 20-25. 

The Eagles busted open the second set early with a 6-1 run that was capped by a pair of blocks by Palombo and Phillips to make it 16-8 . Later, Phillips ended the set with two straight kills, 25-17. 

Set three was looking dicey for the Eagles late, with the Tigers reaching set point first at 22-2. Palombo put down a kill, the Tigers committed an attack error after calling a timeout, and Palombo and Phillips teamed up for another block to make it 25-24. Another Tiger attack error ended it 26-24 in favor of the Eagles. 

Juniata clawed their way to a late lead, 19-18 late in the fourth set. The Tigers would not go out without a fight. Wittenberg took four of the next five, kills from Phillips and Baier made it 22-22, but Wittenberg got the kill they needed to claim set four 23-25. 

The Eagles took the first three points to open the decisive set. Wittenberg quickly responded, and the teams traded points. The Tigers got ahead 8-12, before kills from Phillips, two from Baier, and an ace made it 13-13. The Tigers took the match on a block, 13-15. 

Juniata wraps the year 29-3.