Eagles Defeat Royals

HUNTINGDON, Pa.-The Juniata men's volleyball team split their second straight weekend in Continental Volleyball Conference play as they won 3-1 (25-16, 25-14, 22-25, 25-14) over Eastern Mennonite, Saturday evening at Memorial Gymnasium.

The Royals hung around early as they hung within three points, with a service ace making it 14-11 Juniata. Three straight Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) kills made it 17-11 quickly before EMU broke the run. But kills from Fick and Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Shadow Ridge) along with a block by Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) made it 20-12. The Eagles stayed in control of the set and with the score at 24-16 a block from David Hibner (Burke, Va. / Lake Braddock Secondary) and Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif. / Westlake Village) ended set one. 

Set two opened with the Royals leading early as the JC stayed within one most of the way. Juniata eventually took the lead at 11-10 but EMU knotted things at 11. A Duffy kill and a block pair with an EMU attack error made it 14-11 and the Royals called timeout. Young put down a kill to extend the lead before EMU broke up the flurry. But the Eagles kept coming as they rattled off eight straight to go up 23-12. Juniata wound up taking set two, 25-14. 

The third set saw the Eagles trail the whole way, with the Royals reaching set point at 16-24. The Eagles didn't go down quietly, as a service error, a Hibner kill, a block from him and Leland Hacecky (Ashburn, Va. / Stone Bridge) and an ace from Stephen Ash (Elk Grove, Calif. / Cosumnes Oaks) forced an EMU timeout as the Eagles closed within four, 20-24. A block by Austin Goodsel (Corry, Pa. / Fort Leboeuf HS) and Hibner was followed by another from Hibner and Hacecky to make it 22-24, but JC couldn't complete the comeback as they fell, 22-25.  

The Eagles had their most effective set hitting the ball in set four as they hit .524 to close the door on EMU. Up two at 13-11, a kills from Peterson and Fick paired with two Royal attack errors made it 17-12. A few points later with the score at 19-13, Hibner tallied a block and a kill, EMU committed two errors and Hacecky served up an ace to push the Eagles to set point. A service error kept the match going for a point but Fick emphatically ended it with his 18^thkill as the Eagles took set four and the match, 25-14. 

Juniata will host Elizabethtown next Tuesday at 7:00 in a makeup game that was postponed due to snow last Tuesday.