Juniata men’s volleyball takes three matches on day one at Wisconsin Invitational

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Juniata College men's volleyball team completed the first day of competition at the Wisconsin Invitational, with wins over NYU, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), and Fontbonne University on Saturday at MSOE's Kern Center.

Juniata posted a 3-1 win over NYU, winning by set scores of 25-19, 19-25, 26-24, and 25-23, and went on to a 3-0 victory over MSOE.  Set scores against MSOE were 25-20, 25-15, and 25-15. The Eagles posted a 3-0 win over Fontbonne University; complete statistics against Fontbonne were unavailable as of late Saturday night.

Against NYU, Juniata (19-6) hit .316 for the match while holding the Violets to .248 hitting. Middle Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) led the Eagles with 13 kills on 22 error-free swings for a .591 hitting percentage, while middle Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) logged 11 kills and hit .529 on 17 attacks.  Bortak also recorded five total blocks, while Wolff had three total blocks on his way to a team-high 15.5 points.

Paul Ejups (Bay Shore, N.Y./West Islip) and Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) hit nine and eight kills respectively from the pins.

Setter John Almquist (York, Pa./Central York) finished with 37 assists, and also finished with four total blocks. Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) had a team-high 11 digs, while Almquist sprawled for 10.

In the day's second match, Madden was Juniata's kills leader with 12 terminations against the MSOE Raiders on 20 attacks, yielding a .500 hitting percentage. Ejups was on a similar pace, finishing with 10 kills on 13 swings and a .692 attack clip.

Paul Kuhn also turned in a strong performance, battling to nine kills on 15 attacks and a .467 hitting percentage.

Almquist guided Juniata to a .529 hitting percentage, recording 38 assists in the process.

Juniata closes out the four-match trip to Wisconsin on Sunday, when the Eagles face Carthage College.

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