By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Top ranked Juniata College men's volleyball continued its win streak Saturday night at the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Crossover Weekend. The No. 1 Eagles defeated No. 10 Carthage 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-7) and swept the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in three sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-21). Juniata improved to 10-1 overall with the wins.
"This was a long day," said head coach Kevin Moore. "First match was at 1:30 with a very physical Carthage team. And then we didn't play again until 9 p.m. Fortunately tonight against MSOE we were able to get a few guys in. We were able to use our depth and hopefully that continues."
Juniata opened the day with its fifth win over a ranked opponent this season and third five set match. After winning set one, the Eagles were down 16-7 before making a run. They were down 19-15 when junior Paul Kuhn (York, Pa./Central York) scored back-to-back service aces. A solo block by sophomore Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) put Juniata down by one and another ace from Kuhn tied the set up at 19-all.
The Red Men took the lead again and a kill from junior Mark Feiler (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) tied it back up at 20. But Carthage would push to finish the set and tie the match up at 1-1. They took the momentum built into the third set and quickly went up 2-1 in the match. Juniata responded by taking the lead in set four and never relinquishing it to force a fifth set.
"The guys kept battling," added Moore. "Ultimately, I think our conditioning and our depth allowed us to come back."
On the arm of freshman Kameron Beans (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck), the Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead in set five. Up 9-5, back-to-back blocks by Albert and sophomore Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) forced Carthage to take its second timeout. Juniata extended the lead to 12-5 before finally siding out on a Carthage kill. Juniata gave up only one more point before closing out the win.
Kuhn finished with a team-high 12 kills. Elias earned his third double-double of the season with team-highs of 38 assists and 10 digs. And both Albert and Elias also finished with a match-high seven blocks. In the back row defensively were sophomore Brendan Smith (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay-Varina) and senior Eric McCarthy (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) splitting their time at libero. Smith tied Elias for the team-high 10 digs.
There were fresh faces in the match against MSOE. Junior Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) and sophomore Matthew Kinnebrew (Ashburg, Va./Stonebridge) led with a team-high eight kills. Bortak earned his on nine swings with one error for a .778 percentage. Sophomore Carlos Faccio (Guaynabo, P.R./San Ignacio) and Elias ran the offense together. Elias finished with 15 assists and Faccio earned 11, respectively.
It was freshman Kyle Seeley (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and senior Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) who dominated defensively at the net. The pair came away with six and five blocks, respectively.
Juniata continues play at the CVC Crossover Weekend on Sunday, Feb. 9 when the face Lakeland at 1:30 p.m. Lakeland is coming off two big upset wins over No. 11 Stevenson University and No. 15 Thiel.
Follow Your Eagles! Stay up-to-date on your Juniata College Eagles by logging onto www.juniatasports.net. And don't forget to follow us on twitter (@JuniataEagles) and on Facebook (Juniata Eagles).
