HUNTINGDON, Pa. – No. 3 Juniata men's volleyball continued its strong start Saturday night as the Eagles swept No. 11 Vassar 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-14) to remain undefeated. Juniata (4-0) out blocked the Brewers 12-4 and hit over .300 as a team in the win.
"It feels good," said Head Coach Kevin Moore. "I know the guys were looking forward to opening up at home and looking forward to playing two good teams. Those are two quality opponents we played today. It was good to play a higher level of competition, to see that the guys stepped up."
Junior Alex McColgin (Buffalo, N.Y./Hamburg) finished with a match-high 10 kills. He also tied for the match-high of two aces and had 2.5 blocks. Senior Rob Strauss (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) earned team-highs of 21 assists and six digs.
"We rode him all day," said Moore of McCoglin. "Rob and him have a good connection going right now and they keep finding as many ways as possible to keep feeding him the ball."
There were 12 ties and four lead changes in game two before the Eagles pulled out the 27-25 win. The intensity continued for the Eagles into game three. They used an .800 sideout percentage to control the tempo. By the time freshman libero Brendan Smith (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay-Varina) served four straight points to put the Eagles up 20-9, Vassar had only completely rotated around once.
The Brewers dropped to 1-1 with the loss.
Juniata hits the road next to take on defending National Champions No. 1 Springfield on Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
"I think that we need to move out, put this weekend behind us," Moore stated. "We need to come into the gym focused on Tuesday and get ready for Springfield next weekend. They will be a huge test. It will be a good measuring stick to see where we are at this point in the year."
The Pride are 4-1 this season heading into their Hall of Fame Tournament. Harvard and Loyola are also attending the tournament with the Eagles. Juniata is 24-19 all-time against Springfield. The teams split their contests last year, 1-1.
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