Eagles Sweep Green Knights, Kingsmen To Close West Coast Trip

THOUSAND OAKS, CA.- The #3 Juniata men's volleyball team picked up two wins to go perfect on their west coast trip as they swept St Norbert (25-23, 25-23, 25-10) and Cal Lutheran (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) on day two of the Cal-Lu-Fornia Invitational at Cal Lutheran.  

Set one saw the Eagles in a narrow deficit through most of the first set, with JC calling timeout trailing 15-17. A kill from Luke Hoffman, a block by Joseph Chambers and Austin Goodsel, and a Hoffman ace put Juniata ahead by one, 18-17. The teams traded points, with the Green Knights pulling even for the last time at 20-20. Two kills from Chambers gave push Juniata ahead for the final time, with the teams exchanging points as Hoffman's final two kills gave JC set point and won the set, 25-23. 

The second set required another late push from the Eagles, as they found themselves in a 13-18 hole. A kill from Tyler Goldsborough, an attack error by the Green Knights, an ace from Goodsel, another Goldsborough kill, a block by Chambers and Tyler Phillips, and another Green Knight attack error put the Eagles up by one, 19-18. St. Norbert tied things with a kill after a timeout, but JC continued to roll as kills from Chambers, and Will Phelan bookended two straight Goldsborough aces to put the Eagles ahead 23-19. The Green Knights scored three straight to get back within one 23-22. Juniata called timeout, and Philips put down a kill to bring JC to set point. St. Norbert fought off one set point before Hoffman ended set two with a kill, 25-23. 

Juniata dominated the final frame hitting .500 and holding the Green Knights to -.176 as they ended the match on a 9-1 run to take the set and the match 25-10.

Hoffman led the way with nine kills while hitting .750 to go with two aces. Goldsborough totaled seven kills (.500), two aces, three digs, and a solo block.

In the second match of the day, the Eagles used an early 8-2 run to go up 10-6. Juniata nursed the lead the rest of the way, with the Kingsmen narrowing the JC lead to two at 19-17. Juniata used an error by the host, a Goldsborough kill, and a Reese Ganter ace to push the advantage back to five. A Campbell Gerdeman kill ended set one, 25-20. 

An early 6-0 surge from the Eagles put them ahead by seven, 13-6, as Juniata appeared to be in the driver's seat. Later, with the score at 23-17, the Kingsmen scored three straight to make things interesting, but a pair of Goldsborough kills around a Cal Lutheran kill ended set two, 25-21.

Juniata again saved their best hitting set for the final set as they hit .524 and cruised past the Kingsmen to win the match, 25-19. Goldsborough had another strong match as he had a match-high 11 kills while hitting .500 with six digs, a solo block, and a block assist. Kevin Duffy III tallied eight kills while hitting .467 with three block assists. Ganter amassed 38 assists, a kill, an ace, five digs, and a block assist.

Juniata now sits at 20-2, the third time they have hit the 20-win mark under head coach Glenn DeHaven. 

The Eagles will travel to take on Lancaster Bible Wednesday at 7:00.