LEXINGTON, Va.- The Juniata men's volleyball team took the final three sets to win, 3-1 (25-27, 25-16, 25-22, 25-18), over Ramapo in the Continental Volleyball Conference quarterfinals, Thursday evening at Rockbridge High School.
The match opened with the Eagles building a small lead before the Roadrunners over took them and led through much of the middle portion of the set. With the score at 18-20, a service error, a block by Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) and Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Shadow Ridge) and an attack error put JC ahead, 21-20. Ramapo took the following point after the timeout before committing two more errors put the Eagles ahead, 23-21. The Roadrunners tied things up, 23-23 as JC called timeout. A kill from Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) gave JC set point, but an Eagle service error and a Ramapo ace reversed things to put them at set point, 24-25. Proceeding another Eagle timeout, Peterson tied things with another kill, but the Roadrunners got back to back kills to take set one, 25-27.
Set two saw a reversal of set one as Ramapo built the early lead and Juniata clawed their way back midway through. With the score at 9-10, two kills from both David Hibner (Burke, Va. / Lake Braddock Secondary) and Peterson along with a Roadrunner attack error made it 14-10. Ramapo got within two, 15-13 before another Eagle run essentially ended the set. Two Ramapo errors, two Peterson aces and a solo block from Fick made it 20-13. Juniata went on to take set two, 25-16.
The third set saw the Eagles open a 9-3 lead early and nurse it the rest of the way. The Roadrunners never got closer than three until the very end of the set. With the score at 23-20 following back to back Ramapo points, a service error gave JC set point. The Roadrunners stayed alive with a kill and an Eagle attack error to make it 24-22 as Juniata called timeout. Fick put down a kill to end set three 25-22 and put JC up two sets to one.
Set four saw the teams stay tight early as the teams traded points, with a Ramapo kill knotted things at 10-10. Back to back attack errors by the Roadrunners forced a quick Ramapo timeout, but to no avail as the Eagles kept coming. A Hibner service ace, kills from Duffy and Fick along with another Ramapo attack error made it 16-10. Ramapo didn't back down, using a 5-1 run to get within two, 18-16. A Ramapo service error and Bryce Workman (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick) ace had JC up four, 20-16. The Roadrunners took scored via kill before committing two errors and Hibner put down his seventh kill to make it 23-17. Ramapo tallied another kill before Will Hafen (Las Vegas, Nev. / Bishop Gorman) gave JC match point with a kill, and a Roadrunner bad set ended the match, 25-18.
Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif. / Westlake Village) led the offense with 37 assists and added seven digs.
The Eagles will take on Kean in the semifinal, tomorrow at 6:30.