UNION, NJ- The #11 Juniata men's volleyball team needed five sets but managed to knock off Kean, 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 15-11) to earn a big Continental Volleyball Conference victory. In the proceeding match, they swept aside SUNY Potsdam, 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-14). The Kean win also moved Head Coach Glenn DeHaven to 101 wins, the most wins by a Juniata men's volleyball coach in program history.
JC hit an abysmal .043 to the Cougars .360 but made it interesting late, as a kill from Luke Hoffman (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) made it 21-22, but the Cougars took three of the next four to take the opening set.
Set two didn't see the Eagles hit much more effectively as they hit .045 but holding Kean to .000 made a huge difference. With the score at 17-15, two kills from Kevin Duffy III (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS) and an ace from Campbell Gerdeman (Carlsbad, Calif. / Sage Creek HS) help the Eagles pull away to win 25-19.
Juniata got the offense going in a big way in the fourth as they hit .414 with 17 kills, but the Cougars hit a blistering .500 and eked out a 23-25 win as Juniata was looking an 0-2 CVC start in the face.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair, which saw Juniata concede to straight points at 23-22 as the Cougars moved to match point and forced an Eagle timeout. Juniata got it together as kills from Duffy, and Max Cooley (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park HS) put JC back ahead before Duffy ended the set with another kill.
The decisive fifth set started with two additional Duffy kills and a Tyler Goldsborough (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) ace, and Juniata never trailed as they took set five, 15-11, to nab their first conference win of the year.
Will Phelan (Saegertown, Pa. / Saegertown HS) put up a double-double with ten kills and 13 digs while hitting .368, while Reese Ganter (Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township HS) totaled 51 assists. Goldsborough totaled 14 kills with six aces and six digs, while Duffy amassed 18 kills while hitting .483 with a solo block and a block assist. Hoffman added 12 kills while hitting .526 with four block assists.
Duffy put together another strong performance in the second match with a match-high 13 kills while hitting .655 with an ace and three block assists. Goldsborough tallied 11 kills while hitting .588 with four digs, while Joseph Chambers (West Hempstead, N.Y. / West Hempstead HS) chipped in with seven kills while hitting .583 and two block assists. Ganter had the offense humming as he had 35 assists while the team hit .430.
Juniata returns to action at home this Saturday against Randolph-Macon at 11:00.