HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's volleyball team hosted Rutgers-Newark in the penultimate regular season game on Friday night at Memorial Gym. The Eagles took care of the Scarlet Raiders in three sets winning by scores of 25-18, 25-11, 25-21.
Juniata scored the first three points of the first set and eventually got ahead 12-4. The Eagles stayed ahead with a sizable lead for the remainder of the frame to take the set.
The Eagles dominated in the second set as they hit .556 to Rutgers-Newark's .056. Juniata built leads of 10-3 and 17-7 before going up 23-9 as it cruised to the win.
JC looked to blow the Scarlet Raiders away in the third set as it got out to an 18-10 advantage. Rutgers-Newark began to chip away at the deficit as the lead shrunk to 22-18. The Scarlet Raiders got to with three points at 24-21 but a kill from Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) ended it and the Eagles walked away with the sweep.
Peterson put together a balanced effort with 11 kills, three service aces, three digs, and two block assists. He hit .409. Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area) tallied eight kills while hitting .727 and chipped in four digs and two block assists. Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake Village) paced the offense with 21 assists while also tacking on seven digs. Mahlon Bender (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) picked up four blocks assists.
The Eagles close out the 2017 regular season tomorrow night when they host Cairn. The team will honor its four graduating seniors before the match. Start time is 7:00 p.m.