NEWARK, NJ- The Juniata men's volleyball team picked up its first win of the season, and the first for new head coach Glenn DeHaven, as the Eagles defeated Elmira 3-0. It was the second day of the CVC/UVC Crossover held at Rutgers-Newark.
The two teams were even early in the first set but Juniata broke a 6-6 tie with 5-0 run to go ahead 11-6. The Soaring Eagles would twice narrow the lead to one point. At 16-15, JC went on a 5-0 run to expand its lead to 21-15. EC was able to cut the advantage to 23-20 but Juniata was able to take the set with back-to-back kills by Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area).
Elmira came out in the second frame quickly with three straight points and Juniata answered with three it its own to tie the set at 3-3. Trailing 9-8, the Eagles' 6-1 run put them up 14-10. The Soaring Eagles were able to keep pace and went ahead 20-19. JC showed its resolve as it ended the set on a 6-1 run to put EC away and go ahead 2-0 in the match.
Juniata led in the third set but found itself behind midway through. The Eagles trailed 15-13 but went ahead thanks to a 6-1 run. The Soaring Eagles countered with a run of their own and was ahead 22-20. The two teams went back and forth and the set was at a stalemate 25-25. A service error by Elmira's Dan Symer followed by a service ace from Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) gave Juniata the final two points it needed to claim the win.
Peterson led the offensive effort with 14 kills while Vasinko tacked on 12 kills. Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake Village) picked up 37 assists. Chris Heron (Las Vegas, Nev./Arbor View) led the defense with 11 digs.
In their second match of the day, the Eagles fell to #6 UC Santa Cruz 3-1. Peterson tallied 20 kills and six digs while hitting .432. Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) chipped in 12 kills and five assisted blocks. Heron had eight while Young had nine digs and 37 assists.
The Eagles kept pace in the first set and only trailed 8-7. Santa Cruz outscored Juniata 18-5 to easily win 25-13.
Juniata led 7-6 in the second set but the Banana Slugs ripped off a 10-1 run to go up 18-8. The Eagles could not muster a big run as UCSC would take the set 25-16.
The Eagles trailed 11-9 in the third frame but used a 9-3 run to go ahead 18-14. Seven straight points from UC Santa Cruz gave it a 21-18 advantage. The two teams traded points and the score stood at 25-25. JC got two kills from Peterson to win the set 27-25.
The fourth set was another tight battle. Juniata was ahead 10-9 but the Banana Slugs countered and jumped to a 13-10 lead. The Eagles trailed for the remainder of the frame and could only get to within two points of tying before UCSC hung on for the win.
Juniata returns to Huntingdon as it hosts Wittenberg next Friday night. Start time for the match will be at 8:00 p.m.