Men's Volleyball

Men’s volleyball wins five set thriller over Springfield College

Posted: Mar 27, 2010

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College men's volleyball defeated Springfield College in a grueling five set match Saturday night at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center keeping its hopes alive of receiving a berth into the 2010 Molton Invitational.

Set scores for the Eagles over Springfield were 22-30, 30-23, 24-30, 30-24, 19-17.

The Pride controlled game one with a .517 attack percentage to the Eagles' .273 hitting percentage. Juniata tried to work its way back into the set and narrowed the gap set by Springfield with an Evan Halteman (Perkiomenville, Pa./Christopher Dock) to have the scoreboard read 15-13. The Pride answered back with a kill and kept a solid lead throughout the rest of the set. Springfield went on a four-point run to end set one; three of the four points came from Juniata errors.

In set two the Eagles jumped to a 2-0 lead. The Pride tied the game up at 3-3 with a kill from AJ Nally, but an attack error by Greg Falcone put Juniata ahead. The Eagles kept the lead through the duration of set two. Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) served up two aces to force Springfield to call a timeout at 14-10. Out of the gates from the timeout, Halteman continued the Eagles' momentum with a kill. Juniata captured the last three points of set two, all of which were Springfield errors. The Eagles outhit the Pride .406 to .108 in the set.

The Eagles start off ahead in set three, but the Pride fought back to tie the score at 8-8 with the help of a Juniata ball handling error. Set three was back in forth between Juniata and Springfield, with each team siding out to keep flip-flopping the lead. Eric Shoemaker split the gap with an ace to give the Pride a 20-18 advantage, but Juniata's Wanner answered back with a kill. A Springfield block pushed them ahead to 21-19 and also gave the team momentum forcing a Juniata timeout. The Pride proceeded to go on a five-point run late in set three which pushed them closer to set point. At point 29-24, John Almquist (York, Pa./ Central York), Mike Kraft (York, Pa./ Eastern York) and Halteman combined for a block to stop Springfield from taking set three. An Alistair Matthews kill gave the set to the Pride 30-24.

Juniata started set four at a 1-0 deficit, but a service error by Shoemaker put the Eagles on the scoreboard. Juniata and Springfield were deadlocked at points 2-2, 4-4, 6-6, and 7-7 until a Halteman kill set the Eagles apart. After the kill, a three point run gave Juniata the momentum it needed and the Eagles led the set the entire way. A kill from Chris Vrooman (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) finished off Springfield, 30-24.

The fifth and final set was neck-and-neck, where the match could have fallen in either team's favor. The teams' scores were within one point of the other until 7-5, where Springfield took the led on a Juniata attack error. The Eagles pushed their way back to tie the score at 8-8 and again at 10-10. Juniata took the lead at 11-10 with a Springfield hitting error. The Pride came back and tied the score up at 13-13. The lead wavered between Springfield and Juniata, with each team having set point twice until Juniata won the match on an attack error by Mike Pelletier.

Halteman led the team in hitting percentage, attacking .500 for the match with 13 kills and two errors on 22 attempts. Wanner had match high kills with 23. Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) always had 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .393 for the night.

Almquist recorded 56 assists, a career and match high. He also logged 16 digs. Libero Anthony Damiano (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) tallied 17 digs in the five set match.

The five set win over Springfield forces Juniata to relay upon Division III foe NYU to defeat the Pride at their next meeting on April 3. If NYU wins its match against Springfield, Juniata will receive a berth into the Molton Invitational.

Juniata will return to action on Wednesday March 31 at home against Saint Francis at 7:00 p.m.

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