MVB maintains perfect record in CVC East with wins over EMU and Stevenson

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Juniata College men's volleyball remained undefeated in Continental Volleyball Conference East Division play with a pair of 3-0 wins to complete round-robin play at the first CVC weekend hosted by Stevenson University.

Juniata began the day with a 3-0 win over Eastern Mennonite by set scores of 25-8, 25-18, and 25-23, and closed the session with a 3-0 blanking of Stevenson, posting scores of 25-18, 25-15, and 25-13.

Against Eastern Mennonite, outside hitter Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) paced the Juniata attack with 12 kills on 26 swings with only two errors, registering a .346 hitting percentage. Freshman middle Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) tacked on 10 kills while hitting .692, as the Eagles posted a .394 attack percentage against the Royals.

For its part, Eastern Mennonite (6-8, 0-3 CVC East) was held to a .000 hitting percentage, balancing its 27 team kills against 27 attack errors.

The Eagles controlled the match at the net as well, recording 15.0 team blocks to Eastern Mennonite's 2.0 blocks.  Middle Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) set the tone with six total blocks, five of which were solos, while pin hitter Paul Ejups (Bay Shore, N.Y./West Islip) recorded three block solos.

Senior setter John Almquist (York, Pa./Central York) finished with 34 set assists. Madden and senior Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) each had six digs.

Eastern Mennonite was led by George Greene's 11 kills on a .261 hitting percentage, while Greg Knight tallied seven terminations in the losing effort.

In the closing match against Stevenson, Madden and Wolff both hit for big numbers as the Eagles posted a .405 attack percentage, their second .400-or-better hitting performance of the season. Madden had a match-high 13 terminations while hitting .478 from the left antenna, while Wolff recorded a .857 hitting percentage with 12 kills on 14 error-free swings.

Juniata again enjoyed superiority at the net with 11.0 total blocks, with Kuhn charting five total blocks including three block solos. Ejups finished with four, while Wolff had three.

Almquist and Ben Krouse (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) paced the defensive effort with 11 digs each, leading Juniata to 40 digs in the entire match – second-most in a three-set match this season, trailing only the 54-dig performance at UC-Santa Cruz.

Stevenson's Rob Kryger led the Mustangs with 10 kills behind a .368 hitting percentage; no other Stevenson player charted more than three kills. The Mustangs hit just .031 for the match, yielding a combined 30 points on attack and service errors.

Juniata has the rest of the week off for spring break. The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, March 17, when they travel to the Milwaukee School of Engineering in Milwaukee, Wis., to face MSOE and New York University. The road trip will continue on Sunday, March 18, when the Eagles head to Kenosha, Wis., to battle Carthage College and Fontbonne University.

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