Hiram, Ohio- The Juniata men's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-16) victory against Adrian at Price Gymnasium at the opening night of the Hiram Spring Invitational Friday evening.
The teams went back and forth early, before kills from Mahlon Bender (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) and Matt Vasinko (Loyalhanna, Pa./Derry Area) along with an ace from Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) made it 10-5. JC continued to lead by five, before a 4-0 run which included an ace and kill by Vasinko with two Bulldog errors made it 18-10. Following an Adrian timeout, JC took the next two points with a Fick kill and a Bender block. The Eagles eventually took game one 25-15 on another Vasinko kill.
Set two saw the Bulldogs grab an early 1-4 lead, but Juniata managed to get back in the lead at 9-8. Juniata maintained a two-point lead before Bender notched a kill, Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev./Shadow Ridge) and Bender combined for a block and following an Adrian timeout Fick served up another ace to make it 20-16. A 7-3 push from the Bulldogs tied the score at 23 and Juniata called timeout. A kill from Fick and a Adrian attack error gave the Eagles set two 25-23.
The third set saw Juniata race out to a 10-2 lead. Adrian got within five at 13-8 but Juniata went on another run. A kill and a block from Fick, a block by Bender and Andrew Knapp (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) followed by kills from Knapp and William Hafen (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) made it 18-9. Juniata eased to a 25-16 victory to complete the sweep.
Juniata will face Hiram at 12:00 and Illinois Tech at 2:00