By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
CINCINNATI, Ohio – No. 1 Juniata College men's volleyball suffered its first loss to a Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) opponent Sunday afternoon. The Eagles fell 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-16) to Lakeland College in their CVC Crossover Weekend finale. Lakeland (9-2) defeated three ranked teams this past weekend. Juniata dropped to 10-2 with the loss.
"We're going to get our opponents best fight, best shot every single night," said head coach Kevin Moore. We need to be willing to fight as hard as our opponent."
Junior Alex McColgin (Buffalo, N.Y./Hamburg) tied for the match-high of 16 kills and sophomore Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) picked up 40 assists, his fourth 40-assist match of the season.
After dropping the first set, the Eagles took set two and tied the match up at 1-1. The third set was a fierce battle. They were down 22-20 when back-to-back kills by McColgin tied the match up for the 11th time. Lakeland sided-out and two Juniata hitting errors ended the set. The Muskies took the momentum into the fourth set and held on for the win.
Juniata's two week break could not come at a better time. The Eagles have been playing in three to four matches every weekend for the past three weeks.
"It helps us because it gives us a chance to recoup mentally and physically," said Moore of the break. "The past few weeks have been pretty grueling. It was a grind. It gives us an opportunity to get healthy and recharge the batteries."
They return home on Friday, Feb. 21 and host Eastern Mennonite at 7 p.m. before facing Marymount and Hilbert on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
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