SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Juniata College's goal of playing in the final Molten Division III Men's Volleyball Invitational ended painfully Friday night, with Springfield College upending the Eagles, 3-2, at Blake Arena to eliminate Juniata from Molten contention.
Set scores for Springfield were 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 19-25, and 19-17.
The Juniata (15-11) loss means the Eagles' post-season will consist of the EIVA Tournament, in which Juniata has already clinched a berth in the quarterfinals on April 23. Springfield and NYU will meet on April 6 in New York, with the winner earning the EIVA's berth in the Molten Invitational.
Three Juniata players finished in double-digits for kills, led by senior outside hitter Chris Vrooman (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) with 24 kills on 50 swings with a .420 attack percentage. Both opposite Alex McColgin (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) and middle Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) notched 11 kills each; Wolff hit .556 on his 18 attacks, and finished with four total blocks.
Middle John Prout (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) tallied six total blocks, leading an Eagle squad that outblocked the Pride, 12.0 to 9.0.
Setter Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) set 50 assists to lead a Juniata squad that hit .277 on the night, narrowly outperforming a Springfield side that finished with a .269 attack percentage. Kraft also tallied 10 digs, trailing only McColgin with 11, to go with five total blocks and a pair of aces.
Back-to-back kills by Kraft and Vrooman helped Juniata rally to tie the match at 14-14, and seven straight side out points later the score had advanced to 18-17 in Springfield's favor. Palumbo finally logged a kill after a length rally off a Bravo serve, allowing the Pride to clinch the victory.
Juniata concludes the two-match road trip on Saturday afternoon, April 2, as it faces the New Jersey Institute of Technology in an EIVA Hay Division match.
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