By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The No. 3 Juniata College men's volleyball team swept day two of their home opening weekend to improve to 5-0 overall Saturday. They topped Hunter College 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19) in the morning before defeating No. 13 Kean University 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-20) in the evening. The Eagles hit almost .300 as a team and earned over 21 blocks to remain undefeated on the year.
"This year we have more depth than we've had and it showed," said head coach Kevin Moore of the day. "With the group that was able to hit for career numbers against a good Hunter squad to this evening with a different squad coming out and getting the job done against a nationally ranked opponent in Kean. We have Matt and Elias who did a really good job in both matches setting up our hitters and getting one-on-ones, and on a number of occasions, getting no block up for our back row attack which was wide open."
Match 1 vs. Hunter College
Sophomore Matthew Kinnebrew (Ashburn, Va./Stonebridge) led with a match and career-high 18 kills with only two errors for a .552 hitting percentage. He also added in a career-high six blocks. Fellow sophomore Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) picked up team-highs of 29 assists and eight digs.
"He was the guy who carried us," Moore said of Kinnebrew. "He had the hot hands both putting the ball away but also from the service line, scoring a number of points, and made a few big plays to turn the match back in our favor."
As a team, the Eagles sided out 73 percent of the time and hit a team-best .611 in game two. They went .344 collectively at the net for the match.
Juniata jumped on the board first in set one, but the Hawks stayed with them, matching run for run. They battled ahead to 23-18 before Juniata mounted a rally. The Eagles pushed five straight points to tie the set up at 23-all. Justin Franks then sided-out on a kill to put Hunter on set point and an Eagle attack error would end then set.
The Eagles rebounded in set two. They scored first and worked their way to a four-point lead before swapping points again with the Hawks. Hunter closed the gap to two, 16-14, when Juniata responded with a 6-1 run to go up 22-16. After the Hawks sidedout, Juniata regained the serve on a kill by freshman Kameron Beans (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck). They pushed the final two points of the set to tie the match up at 1-1 and would cruise through the final two sets to earn the win.
Match 2 vs. No. 13 Kean University
Junior Paul Kuhn (York, Pa./Central York) hit .440 with only three errors en route to his match-high 14 kills. Elias picked up another 30 assists and sophomore Brendan Smith (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay Varina) earned a match high 12 digs.
Juniata trailed 22-20 in set one before pushing three points to take the lead 23-22. A service error would tie it up, but the Eagles responded with a kill from senior Alex McColgin (Buffalo, N.Y./Hamburg) to get to set point and a Cougar hitting error would give them the win.
Set two told a different tale as the Eagles score first and never relinquished the lead. Kean put up a fight in set three, but committed two many errors at the net that the Eagles capitalized on to close the match.
Juniata remains at home for its next contest. The Eagles host the University of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. They are 1-1 all-time against Puerto Rico and have not played them since the 1999 season.
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