Eagles Topple #15 Randolph Macon, Sweep Cougars

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #12 Juniata men's volleyball team defeated #15 Randolph Macon 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 25-14) in Continental Volleyball Conference play before taking down Misericordia 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23), Saturday inside Memorial Gymnasium.  

The opening set of the match against Randolph Macon saw the Eagles edge ahead early and maintain the lead for most of the set. Leading by six in late stages at 19-13 and by four at 22-18 after a Kevin Duffy III (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) kill, it appeared Juniata was well on their way. The Yellowjackets had other ideas as they ran off six of the next seven points to get to set point at 23-24. The Eagles righted the ship with a Duffy kill, an error from the visitors, and a kill from Tyler Goldsborough (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) ended set one 26-24.  

The second set saw a late Randolph Macon 4-0 run put them ahead 17-20, and Juniata couldn't quite recover as they got within one twice but ultimately fell, 22-25.  

The third set was another close one, with JC using a 4-0 run to get a little separation with the score at 13-13. Duffy and Will Phelan (Saegertown, Pa. / Saegertown HS) put down kills along with two Yellowjacket errors had the Eagles ahead, but RMC managed to pull even three different times, the last one at 23-23. From there, a service error and another Duffy kill ended things in favor of JC.

Juniata erupted in the fourth set as they hit .348 and hell Randolph Macon to -.077 to walk away with the match after a 25-14 win. 

Duffy led the way with 16 kills while hitting .538 to go with two block assists, while Phelan added 11 kills, eight digs, and a block. Luke Hoffman (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) chipped in with six kills, two aces, a solo block, and two block assists, while Reese Ganter (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) amassed 45 assists, three kills, and six digs. 

Juniata fended off the Cougars in the opening set of their second match but had to dig their way out of deficits late in the final two sets. Trailing 21-22 late in set two, Juniata used kills from Goldsborough and Campbell Gerdeman (Carlsbad, Calif. / Sage Creek HS) along with two Cougar errors to take set two 25-23. In the third set, it was a 20-22 hole, before kills from Max Cooley (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park HS) Goldsborough and a block from Gerdeman and Hoffman made it 23-22. The Cougars scored following a timeout off a kill, but Goldsborough gave JC match point, and Hoffman ended it. 

Goldsborough had a big second match as he hit .522 on his way to 13 kills, an ace, three digs, and two block assists. Gerdeman tallied seven kills while hitting .364 along with five digs and four block assists. Hoffman had seven kills on eight swings with zero errors, two digs, and four block assists. 

Juniata will return to action next Saturday at Wilkes to play them and Arcadia. They will play Arcadia at 1:00 and Wilkes at 3:00.