HARRISONBURG, VA.- Juniata men's volleyball had two matches on Saturday afternoon with the highlight being a Continental Volleyball match with Eastern Mennonite. The Eagles forced a fourth set and almost went to five but host EMU would win 3-1.
Against the Royals, Juniata fell behind 2-0. In the first set, the Eagles led 10-6 but the Royals came back to take a 11-10 lead. Both teams would tussle back and forth with the set at 18-18. EMU went on a 7-3 run to close out the frame and win 25-21.
The second set was a tight battle early on with the score tied at 6-6. EMU went ahead 10-7 and broke it open with a 7-1 run to lead 17-8. The lead expanded to 22-12 on their way to a 25-14 win.
JC fell behind 5-1 in the third set but rallied to tie it at 10-10. The Eagles ripped off a 10-4 run to take a 20-14 advantage. Juniata's lead stood at 23-16 but the Royals edged their way back with five straight points. JC got a kill from Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and an attack error by Eastern Mennonite's Scott Brigham to pick up the two points it needed to win the set.
The Eagles carried their momentum into the fourth set as they led 4-0. The lead grew to 9-3. EMU chipped away as the JC lead was down to two points at 20-18. The Royals rattled off the last seven points to come back and win 25-20.
Seeley finished with 12 kills and seven block assists. Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) tallied 10 kills, six digs, and three block assists. Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake Village) had 19 assists with Matt Schaeffer (Mount Wolf, Pa./Northeastern) chipping in 14. Chris Heron (Las Vegas, Nev./Arbor View) led in digs with 11.
The Eagles had no trouble with York (NY) in their match as they easily won 3-0 (25-5, 25-13, 25-16). Juniata hit .297 while the Cardinals were at -.087.
Leaders for Juniata included David Hibner (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock Secondary) who had seven kills and a .455 hitting percentage. Alex Schultz (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic) chipped in six kills. Quinn Looper (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) put up 20 assists and four service aces. Sean Cavanaugh (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) had three service aces. Bryce Workman's (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) four digs was a team high.
Juniata will next play at Thiel on Tuesday night. Start time will be 7:00 p.m.