Eagles Soar Past Knights to Win Fifth CVC Crown

LEXINGTON, Virginia - The #2 Juniata men's volleyball team dominated #6 Southern Virginia University 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-17) in the Continental Volleyball Conference Championship, Saturday afternoon on the campus of Washington and Lee. 

The Eagles claimed their fifth conference championship, the most in the CVC history. Will Sierer led the way with 32 assists, a kill, and three digs to claim MVP honors. Chris Mellor totaled seven kills while hitting .750, while Tyler Phillips had eight kills (.412) to go with an assist, an ace, three digs, and five blocks as both joined Sierer on the All-Tournament team. 

The Eagles jumped ahead 11-6 early in the first set, and the Knights countered quickly, pulling back within on at 11-10. Juniata maintained the lead, using an attack error and a kill from Dante Palombo to get build the lead back to five late, 22-17. A Knight flurry made it 22-20, but the Eagles exchanged points the rest of the way, taking set one on a service error. 

Set two was close for most of the way, with the Knights narrowing a late Eagle lead to two at 19-17. From there, the Eagles slammed the door shut, scoring the final six points with a pair of Octavian Sperry kills ending set two 25-17. 

The Eagles, on the precipice of a conference championship and shaking an eight-year 13-match losing streak to SVU, dominated the third set. They limited the Knights to a 0.069 hitting percentage while hitting .391 and taking set three, the match, and the CVC crown 25-17 on a Felix Baier service ace.

The Eagles sit at 29-2 and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they will learn where and who they play against. The NCAA Selection Show is Monday at 10AM.