LANGHORNE, PA- The Juniata men's volleyball team put on a strong offensive display as it dispatched Cairn 3-1 (25-13, 25-16, 20-25, 25-13) on Wednesday night. The Eagles totaled 61 kills in the match, which is their second-best effort to date.
Juniata improves to 11-2 overall and is undefeated in the CVC with a record of 3-0. The Highlanders fall to 7-9 and 0-5 in the CVC.
Joe Bortak (Jeannette, PA/Penn Traford) had a season-high 21 kills for the Eagles. Paul Kuhn (York, PA/Central York) added 14 kills. Matt Elias (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) tallied 47 assists. Justin Waldorf (Eden, NY/Eden) led the defense with 18 digs.
The Eagles led 3-0 in the first set and held a 7-5 advantage at one point. Juniata's lead stood at 13-9 before a run of six straight points to surge ahead 19-9. JC ended the set on a 6-4 at it easily won.
Cairn took a 7-5 lead in the second frame but Juniata rallied with an 8-2 run to go up 12-8. The Highlanders were able to get to within two points, 16-14, but the Eagles slammed shut any hope of a rally with a big 9-2 run to close out the frame and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Highlanders were able to the better of the Eagles in the third game. In the fourth game, Juniata led 6-2 before Cairn was forced to take a timeout. The brief break did little to slow down the Eagles as they mounted a 16-6 run to take a commanding 22-8 lead on their way to the set and match win.
The Eagles look to continue their winning streak as they travel to Owing Mills, Maryland to face Stevenson on Friday night. Match time will be at 7 p.m.