Men's Volleyball Drops First Game of Season to SVU, Recovers in Win Over Blue Jays

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #1 Juniata men's volleyball team faced their first setback of the 2023 season with a defeat to Continental Volleyball Conference foe Southern Virginia University in four sets (17-25, 25-21, 21-25, 29-31) in the Eagle Invitational, while they wrapped up the day with a nonconference win over Elizabethtown College in four sets (23-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-12). 

Maxwell Barr led the team with 14 kills and eight digs in the defeat to Southern Virginia, while Luke Hoffman totaled a team-high two aces. Four Eagles each totaled four blocks, including Tyler Goldsborough, Hoffman, and Kevin Duffy III. Setter Reese Ganter ended the day with 29 assists. 

The Knights kept the Eagles to a season-low .140 hitting percentage in the match while hitting at .223. 

Set one saw the Knights hit at .346 to Juniata's .172, as the Knights made use of an early advantage that they held to the finish. Juniata went ahead 3-1 to open the set, but a 6-1 Knights run put them ahead 4-7. The sides traded points for much of the middle stages, with Southern Virginia keeping a three-to-five-point lead for a time. A string of five Knights points that saw three Eagles attack errors and an ace put them ahead 11-19. The sides traded points, and the Knights registered kills on six of their final seven points in a 17-25 set one win. 

Juniata fired back in the second set, hitting .345 with a match-high 14 kills against a match-low .069 for Southern Virginia. The sides traded points to open the set until a four-point run with a pair of Barr Kills and a Duffy kill put the Eagles up 10-5. The sides traded points up to a three-point streak of Eagles points off two Knights errors. SVU called timeout at this point and fired back with four straight before Juniata initiated timeout with a narrow 17-15 lead. The Eagles kept the gap to the end, trading points up to a 25-21 final set score, finishing off the second on a Hoffman kill. 

Both sides struggled in attack in a tightly contested third set that went SVU's way 21-25. The Knights hit .091 while keeping Juniata to a season-low -.160 in a single set. A four-point run put the Knights up 5-2, and they never trailed the rest of the way. Neither side put together more than a three-point run the rest of the way, with the Eagles clawing back to a 14-15 deficit before falling to a 6-1 run that put the Knights four points from the set win. The sides traded points up to a set-point SVU block to take it to the fourth. 

It took a 29-31 score to settle the third set, but the Knights again were able to settle the set with a block to claim the upset victory in a set where they hit .394 with 17 kills to Juniata's .161. The Knights again broke through early with a 2-6 lead that they consistently maintained for much of the set. The Eagles used a 4-1 run with two Knights service errors and a Duffy-Goldsborough block to get back to 18-20. The sides traded points a put, but Juniata made use of a three-point run with kills from Goldsborough and Barr to get back level at 23 apiece. 

The sides scored back-to-back kills before an Eagles service error gave the Knights match point. Juniata then made use of a service error for a 25-25 score. The sides traded points a couple more times before a Goldsborough kill and a Hoffman-Austin Goodsel block have Juniata set point for the first time. This was followed by back-to-back kills that again put Juniata at set point. The Knights quelled any Eagles' comeback with two kills and a block for their eighth-straight victory over the Eagles. 

The defeat ends a program-record 13-game winning streak for the Eagles, and Juniata moves to 1-1 in Continental Volleyball Conference play. 

Juniata's second match of the day saw them claim a nonconference win over Elizabethtown, hitting .436 to Etown's .147. Hoffman (12 kills, .786 hitting %), Duffy (14 kills, .583 hitting %), and Goldsborough (13 kills, .318 hitting %) each totaled ten-plus kills, while Barr led the side with four aces. Peter Carioto totaled a team-high 13 digs, the most for him in a single game this season. Austin Goodsel registered a season-high 46 assists. 

The Eagles broke out to an early 4-0 lead in set one off a pair of blocks and a Barr kill, and they held the lead early. The Blue Jays soon found themselves on a 7-1 run that saw three Eagles attack errors, a setting error, and a service error that put them back in control at 14-16. The sides traded points, with Juniata able to get back level twice at 18-18 and 23-23, but they could not reclaim the lead. Back-to-back Etown kills handed them set one. 

Set two was smooth sailing for Juniata, who hit .529 against a match-low -.087 for the Blue Jays in a 25-11 win. Juniata quickly found themselves ahead 6-2 thanks to two Barr aces, a Goodsel-Duffy block duo, and a Max Cooley kill. Etown got three back before Juniata went to post six straight, a timeout not helping Etown's deficit. Juniata coasted to a 20-8 lead before another Blue Jays timeout. The sides returned from the break, splitting points before a Goodsel kill, Duffy-Goodsel block, and an attack error gave Juniata set two. 

The Eagles again broke out to an early lead in set three and consistently pulled away to a 25-15 victory following a late Etown surge. Juniata found themselves ahead 9-2 thanks to three Duffy kills and two Goldsborough kills. A 6-2 run gave Juniata double digits at 15-5. The gap was maintained up to 22-10 when Etown strung together three to break momentum for a moment. The sides traded points for the next five serves, handing Juniata the set on a Barr kill. 

It took a bit for Juniata to get going, but they ended the fourth with a .542 hitting percentage, 14 kills, and just one attack error in a 25-12 set. Etown stayed within a point or two up to an 11-9 Juniata lead. At this point, the Eagles began to open the gap on a seven-point run with two Goldsborough kills, two Duffy kills, and two Blue Jays setting errors. The sides traded points until the Eagles ended on a four-point run with two Goffman kills and a Goldsborough ace as the match point. 

The Eagles carry onward with the 2023 season next weekend with a pair of MAC opponents as Juniata ventures to Stevens University for matches against hosts #2 Stevens and Misericordia on Sunday, February 26th.  Juniata meets Stevens for the first time, while Misericordia hasn't won a set in two prior meetings.