NEWARK, N.J.- Juniata men's volleyball traveled to New Jersey to take on Rutgers-Newark in Continental Volleyball Conference action on Friday night. The Eagles won the first two sets and was able to outlast the Scarlet Raiders in third set as they won 3-0.
It was all JC in the first set. The Eagles trailed 2-1 early on but ripped off a 9-1 run to go ahead 10-3. Juniata would go on to outscore Rutgers-Newark 15-7 as JC went ahead 1-0 in the match.
The Eagles found themselves down in the second set by as much as 11-6. Juniata still trailed 15-11 before tying the match at 15-all. The Scarlet Raiders got ahead 18-17 but the Eagles rallied with a Rutgers-Newark scoring error and kills from Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) and Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area). The Scarlet Raiders got the match to 23-21 but an attack error from Corry Peiper and a kill from Peterson gave Juniata the two points it needed to take the set 25-21 and go up 2-0 in the match.
In the third set, Rutgers-Newark used a 6-3 run to break a 3-3 stalemate and go ahead 9-6. The Scarlet Raider lead expanded to 18-14 and eventually 19-15. The Eagles kept pace and would not falter as they matched their opponent point for point. Trailing 24-22, a pair of errors on the Scarlet Raiders tied the set at 24-24. The two teams traded points until the set stood at 26-26. A kill from Vasinko followed by a Scarlet Raiders attack error gave JC the point it needed to win the set and take the match.
Juniata hit .425 on the night with Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) putting up a team-best .647 hitting percentage. He led the Eagles with 14 kills and also had two assisted blocks. Mahlon Bender (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) added 10 kills. Vasinko led the defensive effort with nine digs. Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake Village) added 37 assists and three digs.
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow night when they travel to Langhorne, Pa. to play Cairn in CVC play. Start time is at 7:00 p.m.