By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich
Greenville, Pa. – No. 3 Juniata College men's volleyball defeated Dominican University 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 25-20) in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Carthage College 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18) in the semifinals Saturday afternoon to advance to the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) championship match for the second consecutive year. Straight from the storyline of a classic sports movie, the reigning CVC champions will face No. 13 Stevenson University in the championship at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 13 at Thiel College. Juniata (26-4) fell 3-1 to the Mustangs when the teams met in Huntingdon just over a week ago. Stevenson (21-7) handed the Eagles only their fourth loss of the season, ending an eight match win streak.
Juniata was led by junior Paul Kuhn (York, Pa./Central York) and senior Alex McColgin (Buffalo, N.Y./Hamburg) in day one of the CVC tournament. Both averaged over three kills per set on the day. Kuhn finished with a team-high 26 kills hitting .417, while McColgin collected 22 kills of his own, respectively.
Junior Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) was the other big man at the net. He earned a team-high 10 blocks and hit a team-best .520 committing just two errors on 25 swings. Sophomore Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) ran the offense for the Eagles and picked up a match-high 51 assists against Dominican and a match-high 35 in the win over Carthage. This marked only the second time this season he has earned over 50 assists in a single match, and the second time in his career it happened during a four-set decision.
Quarterfinals vs. Dominican University (#3 West Seed)
The Eagles survived 11 tied scores and five lead changes to take set one, but Dominican (13-14) came back in set two on fire. Hitting .542 as a team, they won the race to 25 after tying the set up at 20-all, to even the match at 1-1. The Stars scored the first point in set three, but after Juniata tied it up and took the lead, they never looked back, cruising to a 25-16 win. Set four was an even more commanding win. The Eagles scored first and led by as many as six points before earning the win and advancing to the semifinals.
Kuhn and McColgin tied with a team-high 13 kills and Kuhn earned a match-high three service aces. Sophomore Brendan Smith (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay-Varina) picked up a team-high 10 digs.
Semifinals vs. No. 4 Carthage College (#1 East Seed)
The last time Juniata faced Carthage, the match went five sets before the Eagles earned the win. This time, the energy in Beeghley Gymnasium was high and competition tough. Each set was a battle, but set two was the key momentum shifter.
Carthage (22-7) took the 23-22 lead off an Eagle attack error. Juniata then responded with a kill from senior Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) and a kill from Kuhn to sit on set point 24-23. A bad set by the Redmen ended the set and gave Juniata the 2-0 lead in the match. The Eagles continued to push in set three and went up by five before Carthage pulled back within three (20-17). But Juniata scored five of the next six points earn the win and a chance to defend its title.
The Eagles outhit Carthage with a .342 team average for the match. Kuhn had the match-highs of 13 kills and two service aces. And Madden picked up a match-high eight digs.
Championship Preview
This will the third meeting this season between Stevenson and the Eagles. Juniata leads the all-time series 3-2, but this year the teams have split competition. Juniata defeated the then No. 15 Mustangs 3-2 back on March 7 at their place. And Stevenson returned the favor by upsetting Juniata 3-1 at home on April 4. This is their first meeting on neutral turf this year.
Lowdown on Stevenson
The No. 13 Mustangs are 21-7 this season and currently riding a seven match win streak. They defeated Lakeland College 3-2 in the semifinals to earn a championship match berth in their first season in the league. Stevenson's attack is led by senior Jon Martin. The right side hitter has team-highs of 231 kills and 41 service aces this season. He had seven kills and 10 digs in the win over Lakeland. The Mustangs primarily run a 5-1 offense and rely on junior David Moler to distribute the ball. He has over 880 assists this season and ranks ninth nationally in assists per set.
Juniata in the Championships
The Eagles are 4-1 all-time in the CVC tournament and have made it to the championship match two of their three seasons in the league. Last year, they topped UC Santa Cruz 3-0 to earn their first CVC title.
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