Men's Volleyball Disarms Purple Raiders, Tames Mustangs

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #4 Juniata men's volleyball team picked up two wins at home as they defeated Mount Union 3-0 and Stevenson 3-1, Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Gymnasium. 

In the first day's match against Mount Union, the Eagles used a 6-0 run early and nursed that lead the rest of the way. JC reached set point on a Purple Raider service error, and two points later, Tyler Phillips ended the set with a kill, 25-20. 

The Eagles hit .455 in set two and soared ahead with a 10-1 blitz to surge ahead 12-5. Later, leading by 23-13, kills from Chris Mellor and Logan Peterson ended set two 25-13. 

The Purple Raiders hung around throughout the third, cutting the deficit to two at 16-14. The Eagles took the next two points on errors and eventually reached set point on a Chase Robbins kill, 24-20. Jared Johnson ended the match with his sixth kill of the match, 25-20. 

Robbins totaled nine kills (.500), with two aces, four digs, and a clock assist, while Mellor had eight kills (.667) with a solo block and four block assists. 

The Mustangs took the opening set of 22-25, as the Eagles struggled offensively, hitting .111. 

The Eagles turned around and had their best set of the match, hitting .516 in set two. Juniata used an early 5-0 run to jump ahead, but the Mustangs battled back to make it 14-15. Later, the teams were even at 20-20, and Juniata locked in by scoring five of the final six points to win 25-21. 

Set three, with Juniata up 17-11, the Mustangs sauntered back within two, 19-17. Dante Palombo and Phillips each tallied a kill, and later combined for a block, as did Will Sierer and Mellor, sparking the Eagles on a 6-0 run to win 25-17. 

Set four, Juniata dominated as they led by as many as 12 at 21-9 and wound up winning the match on a service error 25-16. 

Juniata will return to action at home against Elizabethtown, Wednesday at 7:00.