Huntingdon, Pa.- The Juniata men's volleyball team edged Queen's University, 3-1 (29-31, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17), Saturday evening in Memorial Gymnasium.
Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) had 22 kills and two block assists. William Hafen (Las Vegas, Nev./ Bishop Gorman) had 12 kills and 4 digs, Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) had 10 kills, nine digs and four block assists while Mahlon Bender (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) had eight kills, two solo blocks and a block assist. David Hibner (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock Secondary) had six kills, two aces, a solo block and six block assists.
The first set opened with the teams going back and forth early, before a six-point surge by the Royals put the out in front, 10-16. Later, with JC trailing 19-23, two errors and a kill from Peterson brought them within one, 22-23. Facing set point, kills from Peterson and Fick made it 24-24. The teams traded points until the Royals prevailed, 29-31.
The second set saw Queen's take a 10-12 before kills from Hibner and Hafen mixed with two errors to give the Eagles a 14-12 lead. Juniata built a 24-18 lead before the Royals scored four straight to put some pressure on the Eagles. A kill from Peterson ended the second set, 25-22.
The third set saw Juniata only trail at 1-2, as they slowly built their lead. With the score at 9-7, a kill from Fick paired with multiple Royal errors made it 16-7. Juniata cruised from there, with a kill from Hafen ending the third set 25-17.
The Eagles had a match-low five errors in the fourth set and hit .344 for 16 kills as they won the set 25-17 to take the match.
Before the match, the team took a moment to honor Jake Dube who helped last year's team win a CVC conference championship and make an Elite Eight appearance. Also receiving recognition for his involvement with the men's volleyball team was head coach Jeremy Price who led the Eagles to two National Championships in his time here (2007-2010).
JC will host Southern Virginia to open CVC conference play, Friday at 7:00.