HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Juniata men's volleyball hosted Eastern Mennonite on Tuesday night at Memorial Gymnasium. The Eagles were looking for payback against the Royals for their 3-1 loss back on March 18 and earned it with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 28-26) victory.
Juniata ups its record to 15-10 overall and 7-3 in the Continental Volleyball Conference. The Royals drop to 19-8 overall and 8-3 in the CVC.
EMU led early in the first set 3-2 but JC came back with a 9-4 run to lead 10-7. The Eagles started to pick up momentum as their lead expanded from 12-10 to 23-12 and JC looked to run away with the frame. The Royals were able to tighten the advantage to 24-17 but an attack error on EMU's Josh Elmore gave match point to the Eagles.
Juniata led throughout the second set. The Royals made it interesting as they closed to within one point of tying at 22-21. The Eagles scored the last three points of the set as they won and led 2-0 in the match.
The third set was a battle throughout point for point. Eastern Mennonite led 18-11 as it looked to extend the match to a fourth frame. Juniata was not going to let that happen as it ripped off an 8-0 run to go up 19-18. The two teams traded off points with neither able to establish a run. The Royals were at match point, 25-24, until Kyle Seeley's (Ellicott City, Md/Howard) kill tied it up at 25-25. A kill from EMU's William Ragland again put the visitors at match point. Two errors from the Royals had the Eagles at match point 27-26. Matt Vasinko's (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area) service ace was the backbreaker as JC won the set and the match.
Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) powered the offense with 15 kills on the night and had three service aces. Seeley added nine kills and hit .533 while picking up four block assists. Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake Village) tallied 30 assists. Chris Heron (Las Vegas, Nev./Arbor View) led in digs with 10 and Vasinko tacked on nine digs.
Juniata travels Owings Mills, Md. on Friday to play Stevenson. Match time will be at 7:00 p.m.