Eagles Outlast #10 Yellow Jackets in Five Set Slugfest, Sweep Cougars

PITTSBURGH, Pa.- The Juniata men's volleyball team wrapped the weekend with a pair of wins over #10 Baldwin Wallace 3-2 (23-25, 27-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23) and Chatham 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-17), Saturday afternoon at the Athletic & Fitness Center of Chatham University. 

In the opening set, the Yellow Jackets capitalized on a 6-1 run to take an 18-22 lead. JC climbed back with one, 23-24, but Baldwin Wallace ended things with a kill, 23-25. 

In set two, BW fought off an Eagle set point to make it 25-25, before a service error and an Octavian Sperry kill won set 27-25 as JC tied the match at 1-1. 

With the score at 11-12 in the third, Juniata locked in to go on a 19-15 run, capped by a Dante Palombo ace. Palombo eventually won set three with a kill, 25-22. 

In the fourth, the Eagles held a three-point lead, 19-16, before five straight Yellow Jacket points saw JC facing a two-point deficit, 19-21. Juniata battled back to make it 23-23, but the Yellow Jackets used an Eagle attack error and a block to force a decisive fifth set. 

The fifth set was a battle, with neither team leading by more than two points. Baldwin Wallace was the first team to 15, but the Eagles managed to fight off five match points. The Yellow Jackets responded by fighting off four as the score got all the way to 23-23. Two Yellow Jacket errors ended the match in favor of the Eagles, 25-23. 

Tyler Phillips led the way with 19 kills (.171), to go with five digs, two aces, and a solo block. Will Sierer had 52 assists, seven digs, a kill, an ace, and two block assists. Chris Mellor added eight kills (.583), a solo block, three block assists, and three digs. 

The Eagles dominated game two against the Cougars, hitting .483 in the match. Felix Baier led the Eagles with 12 kills (.611), three digs, an ace, and an assist. Phillips added seven kills (.417), four aces, six digs, and three block assists while Lukas Ricciardi tallied five kills (.300), an ace, and a dig. 

Juniata, sitting at 12-1, will host Marymount and Cairn on Saturday at 1:00 and 6:00.