Wanner’s 15 kills lead Juniata MVB past Mount Olive, 3-0

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College junior outside hitter Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) tallied 15 kills on 24 swings with only one attack error to lead the Eagles to a 3-0 win over Division II Mount Olive College, Saturday afternoon at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center. Set scores were 30-18, 30-23, and 30-25.

Wanner tallied seven kills in the first set alone, helping the Eagles (1-1) grab a decisive win to open the game. Juniata finished game one with five straight points off Wanner's serve, including a pair of service aces. 

A pair of kills by Wanner early in set two allowed Juniata to jump out to a 4-1 lead, and the Eagles held off Mount Olive's rallies the rest of the way. The Trojans pulled to within three points of Juniata at 17-14, but a pair of Mount Olive errors gave two points to Juniata to cushion the lead. Four straight side-out points then left the score at 21-16, when the Eagles grabbed two more points off Trojan errors from Craig Harvey's (Beverly, Mass./St. Johns Prep) serve. 

Mount Olive staged a late come-back bid in set three, twice going on extended point runs to cut into large Juniata leads. 

A four-point run early in the set, including back-to-back kills by the Trojans' Pedro Penate, cut a 7-2 Eagle advantage down to 7-6, before a Mount Olive error and a Matt Werle (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) kill halted and reversed some of the run. 

Later in the set, a 24-17 Juniata lead was trimmed all the way down to 25-22 on a late Mount Olive surge. Mount Olive's Noel Garcia tallied a pair of kills for the Trojans during that run, which was again ended by a Werle kill. 

Wanner finished with four total blocks and four digs to go with his 15 kills, while Evan Halteman (Perkiomenville, Pa./Christopher Dock) and Dan Powers (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) had six kills each. Werle finished with 29 assists, while Anthony Damiano (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) logged 13 kills.

Mount Olive's Penate led the Trojans with 12 kills on 23 swings, with Alex Hoekstra setting the offense with 19 assists. 

Juniata returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 28, when it travels to State College, Pa., to face NCAA defending national champion Penn State.

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