By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich Photography

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – No. 3 Juniata College men's volleyball closed out play at the Golden Flyer Invitational Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) sweep of Hilbert College.  Sophomore Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) was named the tournament's most valuable player and fellow sophomore Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) earned a place on the all-tournament team.  The Eagles (8-1) took home the tournament championship after going 3-0 and hitting .289 as team and earning 31 total blocks.

"Great to see the guys go out and finish strong," said head coach Kevin Moore.  "With our passers keeping us in system, the setters are doing a good job of spreading the ball out.  All of our hitters are doing a really good job of seeing the court well."

Elias ran the offense against Hilbert in set one and put up 11 assists.  Sophomores Carlos Faccio (Guaynabo, P.R./San Ignacio) and Ryan Shelton (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) then took the reins for the remainder of the match.  Faccio finished with a team-high 13 assists and Shelton earned nine, respectively.

Juniata's top kill leaders in the match combined for 28 kills and only five errors.  Sophomore Matthew Kinnebrew (Ashburn, Va./Stonebridge) led with a team-high nine kills, hitting .467 and junior Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) earned seven kills on eight swings for a .750 hitting percentage.  Both junior Mark Feiler (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) and freshman Kameron Beans (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) finished with six kills each, hitting .455 and .500, respectively. 

The Eagles remain on the road next.  They head up to Mount St. Joseph's for the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Crossover Weekend Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 22-23.  Juniata faces off against No. 7 Carthage on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. before taking on Milwaukee School of Engineering at 9 p.m. 

"We have Carthage coming up this weekend so it should be a good matchup," said Moore.  "What we realized this weekend is that going into any match, everyone has to be ready to contribute, whether you're a starter or a non-starter.  That's why we're able to rely on our depth.  We're playing tough opponents.  Everyone is going to need to be able to contribute."

The Eagles are 4-0 this season against ranked opponents and are undefeated when facing NCAA Division III opponents.

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