Eagles Takedown #9 St. John Fisher and Sweep Aside PSU-Behrend to Complete 4-0 Week

ERIE, Pa.- The #15 Juniata men's volleyball team picked up a pair of victories this Saturday, defeating PSU-Behrend 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-15) and upending #9 St John Fisher 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-22, 15-10), in the Junker Center on the campus of Penn State Behrend. 

In the first match against PSU-Behrend, Reese Ganter (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) totaled 20 assists and three digs while Austin Goodsel (Corry, Pa. / Fort Leboeuf HS) tallied 15 assists and three digs as the setter's had the offense humming with a team hitting percentage of .304. Luke Hoffman (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) hit .417 with eight kills, two solo blocks, and a block assist. Kevin Duffy III (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) had nine kills while hitting .667 with a solo block and three block assists. Will Phelan (Saegertown, Pa. / Saegertown HS) added eight kills, five digs, and two block assists. 

In the opening set, Juniata separated with a 5-0 run at 12-12. The Lions committed a service error, Tyler Goldsborough (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) followed with an ace, Duffy put down a kill and combined with Max Cooley (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park HS) for a block, and Cooley completed the run with a kill of his own. A service error by PSU-Behrend ended set one, 25-20. 

Set two saw the Eagles trail by as many as six, but they managed to right the ship as they got within two at 10-12. From there, a 7-0 run put them back in the lead as a solo block by Goldsborough capped the rally and made it 17-12. JC would win set two on a Duffy kill, 25-20.  

Juniata never trailed in the final set as they soared ahead 15-6 and never looked back as they won the match with a 25-15 win in the third. 

The second match saw Juniata take on an undefeated Cardinal team that came ready to play as they defeated the Eagles in the first set, 23-25.  

Juniata returned the favor in set two, reversing the opening set scoreline and eking out a 25-23 win to even the match at 1-1. 

The third set was suboptimal for the Eagles, as they hit negative and dropped the third set 16-25. Juniata dug deep in the fourth frame, winning 25-22 to force a fifth. 

The Eagles never trailed and capitalized on several errors by the Cardinals to win set five 15-10 and take the match. 

Goldsborough led the team in kills with 15 to go with nine digs; Cooley had 12 kills, an ace, and seven digs with a block assist, while Phelan tallied 11 kills and 11 digs. Ganter also contributed a double-double with 21 assists and 15 digs.  

Juniata will take on Messiah Tuesday at 7:30.