Eagles Drop Five Set Heartbreaker to Rutgers-Newark, Sweep Penn State-Altoona

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #11 Juniata men's volleyball team left it all on the floor but narrowly lost to #8 Rutgers-Newark, 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 28-26, 22-25, 13-15), Saturday afternoon in Continental Volleyball Conference action. The Eagles rebounded with a sweep of Penn State-Altoona 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-19) in their second match of the day. 

Juniata came soaring out to start the match as they hit a blistering .500 while holding the Scarlet Raiders to a measly .097 to win 25-17.

The second set saw Rutgers-Newark hit better than the Eagles, which helped them to a late 17-21 lead. Kills from Tyler Goldsborough (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) and Will Phelan (Saegertown, Pa. / Saegertown HS) along with a solo block from Kevin Duffy III (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) helped bring the Eagles back within one. The teams traded points, with a Max Cooley (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park HS) going off the block to make it 23-22. The Scarlet Raiders took the next two points to tie the match at one set apiece. 

The third set was a slugfest, with Rutgers-Newark taking a late 21-23 lead, forcing a Juniata timeout. Two errors and Goldsborough kill gave Juniata a set point, but the teams went back and forth before two straight Scarlet Raider points gave them set point. A monstrous crosscourt kill from Phelan and an ace from Reese Ganter (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) gave JC a set point. Ganter took set three for the Eagles with a well place dump that caught Rutgers-Newark sleeping as JC won 28-26.  

The Scarlet Raiders led most of the way in the fourth set and used a 4-0 run to lead 17-21. Kills from Goldsborough and Cooley sandwiched around a Rutgers-Newark attack error brought JC within one. JC got within one two more times, but the visitors managed to force a fifth set with a 22-25 win.  

Juniata never led in the final set as the Scarlet Raiders jumped ahead early and reached match point at 10-14. Two errors and a bad set gave the Eagles a shot at 13-14, but the Scarlet Raiders took the final point 13-15. 

The Eagles took their frustrations out on the visiting Lions in the opening set of the second match, holding Altoona to a -.103 and taking set one 25-18. 

The second set was Juniata's most dominant showing of the evening as they hit .310 and limited PSU-Altoona to -.048 to cruise to a 25-12 win. 

The visitors tried to make the third set interesting, hanging around midway through at 13-12. A kill from Campbell Gerdeman (Carlsbad, Calif. / Sage Creek HS), a block from Joseph Chambers (West Hempstead, N.Y. / West Hempstead HS) combined with three Lion errors, made it 18-12. Juniata wound up taking the match on a service error, 25-19. 

Juniata will return to action this Tuesday at home against Thiel.