Men's Volleyball Tops Pride, #19 Statesmen to Remain Unbeaten on the Season

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #3 Juniata men's volleyball team picked up two wins on day two of the Kevin Pratte Foundation Invitational, as they swept Widener University and outlasted #19 Hobart College 3-2, Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium. 

The Eagles found themselves in a 5-10 hole early, before scoring nine of the next 10 points, which included two Logan Peterson kills, one from Dante Palombo, an ace from Lukas Ricciardi, and several Pride errors. The rest of the set was tightly contested as the Eagles nursed a small lead, with Widener getting within three at 22-19. Kills from Chase Robbins and Peterson brought JC to set point before an attack error ended set one, 25-19. 

Set two saw the Eagles again behind early at 10-14, before another decisive response. JC rattled off nine of the net 10, with a Peterson kill making it 18-15. The Pride hung around within one for a while, with an Eagle 5-1 surge ending set two, 25-21. 

Set three saw the Eagles hit a robust .640, and cruise to a 25-14 win. 

Peterson had eight kills (.500), with an ace, an assist and four digs. 

The second match of the day opened with a battle of a first set. A crucial run of three straight points made it 21-18, and JC narrowly took set one 25-23 on a Tyler Phillips kill. 

The Statesmen took the second set, coming back late. Palombo's kill made it 25-24, and Hobart took the next three points to win set two 25-27.

Juniata spent most of the third set trying to dig out of another early 5-10 hole and used a late 5-0 run to retake the lead at 20-19. Thet teams traded points to get to 22-22, before three straight Eagle points including a Palombo and Will Sierer block ended set three 25-22. 

The Statesmen forced a fifth set with a 16-25 scoreline in set four. 

Hobart took the first point of the decisive set, and the Eagles countered with an 8-2 sprint that included five errors from the visitors. Reaching match point, Juniata won the match on a service error, 15-10. 

Sierer was named MVP of the Kevin Pratte Foundation Invitational and was joined by Palombo and Andrew Byrne on the all-tournament team. 

All-Tournament Team-

The men's volleyball team will return to action Friday at 7:00 against Stevens Institute of Technology.