Juniata MVB improves to 4-0 with win over no. 12 NYU
NEW YORK – Juniata College’s pin hitters may not have hit with an eye toward efficiency, but they did post enough kills to lead second-ranked Juniata men’s volleyball to a 3-2 win over 12th-ranked New York University, Thursday evening at the Coles Sports Center.
NEW YORK – Juniata College's pin hitters may not have hit with an eye toward efficiency, but they did post enough kills to lead second-ranked Juniata men's volleyball to a 3-2 win over 12th-ranked New York University, Thursday evening at the Coles Sports Center.
Set scores for Juniata were 25-23, 17-25, 25-17, 15-25, and 15-13.
The win improved Juniata's record to 4-0, 1-0 in the EIVA Hay Division, and gave the Eagles an early victory in the race for a berth in the Division III Molten Invitational.
Senior outside hitter Chris Vrooman (Baden, Pa./Ambridge Area) tallied 16 kills on 37 swings while freshman opposite Alex McColgin (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) finished with 12 terminations on 38 attacks to lead Juniata offensively. Vrooman and McColgin combined for 16 of Juniata's 20 attack errors on the night.
The rest of the Juniata lineup didn't match Vrooman and McColgin's numbers, but did make the most of their swings.
Junior middle Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) tallied six kills on 12 swings and posted a .500 hitting percentage, while junior middle John Prout (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) logged three kills to go with his nine total blocks.
Outside hitter Dan Follett (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) posted four kills on eight attacks, while freshman outside hitter Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) tacked on four kills.
Junior setter John Almquist (York, Pa./Central York) logged 40 assists while running a Juniata offense that hit .282 for the match. Almquist also turned up a team-high 11 digs, while Follett had nine and junior Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) had nine.
NYU hit .258 for the match, led by Tayor Fauntleroy with 15 kills on 35 swings for a .143 hitting percentage. Francis Hodgson logged 14 kills with a .500 attack rate, while Nicholas Capprico had 11 kills and hit .429 against the Eagles.
Setter Connor Mortland recorded 54 assists on the night with nine digs. Dylan Ramey sprawled for 12 digs.
Juniata broke a 12-12 tie in the fifth set with a McColgin kill, and a Mortland ball handling error moved the Eagles to match point. A Hodgson kill brought the Violets (0-1, 0-1 EIVA Hay) to within one of the Eagles, but a Prout kill closed out the match in Juniata's favor.
Juniata continues its run of three matches in as many days on Friday night, when it travels to Harrisonburg, Va., to face Eastern Mennonite University.
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