Eagles Hit #15 Falcons with Reverse Sweep to Get Win in Battle of Ranked Foes

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.- The #12 Juniata men's volleyball team battled back to get the reverse sweep at #15 Messiah, 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-10), Friday evening.  

Tyler Goldsborough totaled 16 kills (.393) with a block assist, while Juan Armando tallied 14 kills (.250), an assist, an ace, six digs, and three block assists. Luke Hoffman added eight kills (.500), an ace, a dig, and five block assists. Reese Ganter had 50 assists, a kill, three aces, and five digs.   

The Falcon offense was clicking in the first two sets as they hit .320 and .400, and the Eagles couldn't weather the offensive blitz as they narrowly dropped the opening two sets. 

The third set was tight as the Eagles held a narrow lead most of the way, but the Falcons fought back within two, 21-19. Juniata eventually got to set point on several Falcon errors, and Armando crushed an overpass for a kill to keep the match alive with a 25-19 set-three win. 

Juniata held a 22-17 lead in set four, but several Eagle errors gave Messiah four points as it was suddenly 22-20. JC took three of the final four points to take the set and force a decisive fifth, 25-21, on the block by Armando and Hoffman. 

The Eagles soared to a 7-3 advantage, getting two straight Armando kills to cap the run. The Falcons got back within one at 8-7 before two errors, a Goldsborough kill, and an Armando kill helped give Juniata a cushion. The Falcons fought off several match points before Armando ended the match with a kill on an overpass. 

Juniata returns to action tomorrow when they take on #2 Stevens.