HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Faced with a 2-1 deficit against visiting Penn State Altoona, the Juniata men's volleyball team fought back to win a close fourth set and easily won the fifth set on its way to a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night at Memorial Gym. The win improves the Eagles' record to 9-14 overall while the Lions drop to 15-9 on the season.
Juniata led 10-6 in the first set but Altoona rallied to get to 10-9. The Lions were able to tie the match up at 14-all before the Eagles picked up three straight points to go ahead 17-14. Hanging onto a three-point lead at 20-17, JC ended the set on a five-point run to win the set and lead the match 1-0.
JC ran into trouble in the second frame. The Lions led 5-2 and quickly turned that into a 10-6 lead. The Eagles rattled off four straight points to tie it at 10-10. With the set standing at 12-11 in Altoona's favor, the Lions pulled away with a 12-4 run to leap ahead 22-14. The Eagles would try to get back and trailed 24-18 but the Lions got the last point they needed to win the set and tie the match up.
Much like the second set, the Lions led in the third set early on. The Eagles would keep it close but Altoona found a way to stay ahead. With a 14-13 lead, the Lions tallied three points to go ahead 17-13. JC kept chipping away at its deficit but Altoona remained ahead. The Lions took the set 25-19 and went up 2-1 in the match.
The Lions led 8-3 in the fourth stanza but the Eagles stormed back with five straight points to tie the set at 8-8. The two teams continued to battle back and forth as neither could sustain a significant run. Altoona had the match tied at 24-24 but a kill from Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and an attack error by Altoona's Matt Huey gave the Eagles the two points it needed to even the match at 2-2.
Juniata's momentum carried over into the deciding fifth set as it raced out to 6-0 lead. The Lions tried to make up for its deficit but this time the Eagles stayed ahead. With its lead at 10-6, JC closed out the frame with a 5-1 that was punctuated by a Seeley kill at the end to give the Eagles the set and the match win.
Seeley finished with 24 kills and hit .618 on the night, which were both season bests. He also had four assisted blocks. Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) added 11 kills and five assisted blocks. Quinn Looper (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) and Ryan Shelton (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Baldwinsville) combined for 53 assists. Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area), Brendan Smith (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay-Varina), and Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) all had six digs.
The Eagles will host #5 Rutgers-Newark in a critical Continental Volleyball Conference match on Friday night. Start time will be at 7:00 p.m.
