Eagles Handle Stevenson

OWINGS MILLS, MD- The Juniata men's volleyball team took on Stevenson in a Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) on Friday night at Owings Mills Gym. The Eagles had no trouble with the Mustangs as they won 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-16). Juniata, which has now won four in a row, improves to 12-2 overall and 4-0 in the CVC. Stevenson falls to 6-6 and 2-1 in the conference.

Joe Bortak (Jeanette, PA/Penn Trafford) led the JC offense with 11 kills. Paul Kuhn (York, PA/Central York) added 10 kills. Justin Waldorf (Eden, NY/Eden) tallied eight kills while Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) contributed six kills. Matt Elias (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) had a double-double with 26 assists and 13 digs. He also had four block assists.

Tommy Keisling (Sewickley, PA/North Allegheny) tallied nine digs on the defensive side. Bortak added seven digs with Kuhn chipping in five. Albert had a game-high six block assists.

The first set was close in the early stages but Juniata broke away with a 12-3 run to go ahead 16-6. The score stood at 18-9 before the Eagles rattled off seven unanswered points to take the frame and lead 1-0.

The second game saw the Eagles break a 5-5 stalemate with six unanswered points to surge ahead 11-5. The Mustangs rallied and got to within 15-12 before the Eagles added on four points to go up 19-12. Juniata would end up outscoring the Mustangs 6-3 down the stretch to  go ahead 2-0 in the match.

Stevenson led 6-5 in the third game but the Eagles rallied with four points in a row to go up 9-6. Juniata had a 15-10 lead but piled on with six points to surge ahead 21-10 and eventually take the set 25-16.

Juniata returns to Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday night when they face Rutgers-Newark. Match time will be at 7 p.m.