LEXINGTON, Va.-The Juniata men's volleyball team swept #7 Kean, 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-22), to advance to the Continental Volleyball Conference championship game, Friday evening at Rockbridge High School.
The first set was super tight as neither team led by more than two throughout. Late in the first set, Kean held a 20-22 lead as JC called timeout. Back to back Cougar errors tied things up and forced a Kean timeout. The Cougars took the next point before kills from Quinn Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Shadow Ridge) and Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) had JC at set point. Kean called another time out then scored the next two points on a kill and a service ace to take set point. Following an Eagle timeout, Peterson smashed another kill before a service error again had the Eagles on the brink. A Kean service error and another Peterson kill gave JC set point, and a block from Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) and Michael Young (Westlake Village, Calif. / Westlake Village) gave the Eagles set one, 28-26.
Set two was just as tight as the teams traded points throughout as neither could get any separation. A kill from Fick made it 22-20, but the Cougars responded with two kills of their own to knot things at 22-22 and force an Eagle timeout. Back to back Sean Cavanagh (Cranberry Twp., Pa. / Seneca Valley) kills pushed Juniata to set point and Kean to call timeout. An Eagle service error made it 24-23, but Cavanagh put down his third straight kill to put JC up two sets to zero. Juniata hit a scorching .516 in the set.
The third set followed a similar script as teams went back and forth, with Kean pulling even on a kill, 17-17. From that point on, a 5-1 JC run helped create separation. A kill from Fick and a Kean service error made the Cougars quickly call timeout. Young tallied a kill to push the lead to three before a Kean kill momentarily broke up the run. A service error and a Peterson kill made it 22-18. The Cougars took the next point before back to back Peterson kills had the Eagles at match point. Kean took the next three points to narrow the gap to two, 24-22, but a Cougar ball handling error ended the match, 25-22.
Peterson had 19 kills (.424) to go with two assists and 13 digs. Cavanagh tallied 10 kills (.300) and nine digs while Fick had seven kills (.316), eight digs and two block assists. Young had 41 assists, two digs and two block assists.
The Eagles advance to the CVC championship game for the fourth time.
They will take on Southern Virginia, Saturday at 4:00.