By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The No. 3 Juniata College men's volleyball team used strong defense and big swings to propel itself into the national championship match at home in the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center. The Eagles upset No. 2 SUNY New Paltz 3-1 (18-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-22) Saturday evening in the NCAA semifinals. Juniata (29-3) will take on top ranked Springfield College in the 2014 NCAA Division III men's volleyball championship at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 27.
New Paltz (28-5) had swept the Eagles 3-0 when they met back on March 1, but Juniata held the Hawks to just.235 hitting and only seven blocks.
"That's an amazing team we played," said head coach Pat Shawaryn. "I told them, expect a war. We knew it going in that this wasn't going to be easy. That's a great team. And we had a great home crowd to support us. They kept us amped when we could have folded quickly."
The Eagles were led by All-American Paul Kuhn (York, Pa./Central York) and freshman Kameron Beans (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck). Kuhn earned a match-high 17 kills hitting .519 and finished with six blocks. Beans had a breakout performance in the national semifinal. The 6-3 outside hit .478 while collecting a career-best 13 kills.
Junior Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) also had a big day at the net. The All-American picked up nine kills and grabbed a match-high seven blocks. The explosive plays of sophomore middle Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) added to the Eagles momentum during the match. Albert hit .600 with only one error and earned four blocks. Sophomore Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) effectively managed the Eagles arsenal to finished with a match-high 48 assists. The Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) tournament most valuable player has averaged over 10 assists per set during the NCAA tournament.
"Joe is a big physical presence," said Shawaryn. "The nice part with him being that big and that athletic is it just opens up everybody else coming out of the back row, Alex or Cam on the pin, because he draws so much attention. And Matt did a great job tonight, knowing when they focused on Joe and even Chad and spread it out to the pins."
Set 1
Both teams traded sideouts until back-to-back attack errors from the Eagles sandwiched by kills from the Hawks' Brian Smith gave New Paltz the 10-6 lead. Smith missed his next serve, but so did the Eagles, bringing second-team All-American Steven Woessner to the service line. He served three straight points before Kuhn ended the run with a kill. Unfortunately, the damage had been done and Juniata could not get closer than three points before the Hawks pulled away for the 25-18 win.
Set 2
The tables turned in set two as Juniata hit a staggering .526 as a team. The Eagles jumped out and scored first off a kill by Kuhn. New Paltz hung close and tied it up three times before Elias hit it home to give the Eagles the lead for the final time. Juniata led by as many as 10 points down the stretch. The Hawks tried to make a late push and fell short. Bortak ended the set with a big kill to tie the match up at 2-all.
Set 3
Unlike sets one and two, the first team to score did not win this battle. Set three was tied five times with three lead changes. Tied up at 12 with redshirt junior Alex McColgin (Buffalo, N.Y./Hamburg) on the service line, Beans gave Juniata the lead off a kill from Albert. Kuhn extended the lead to two with a kill of his own. The Hawks pulled back to within one (14-13) and swapped sideouts with Juniata until a kill by Elias was followed up with a block by Kuhn and Bortak to help the Eagles slowly pull away.
Set 4
The fourth set turned into a grudge match with seven ties and four lead changes. Down 12-9, Christian Smith had back-to-back kills to spark the Hawks. They took the lead 13-12 off a ball handling error, but kills from Kuhn and Bortak pulled Juniata ahead going into the media timeout. New Paltz used the break well, and moved back on top off an Eagle error. When an inopportune missed serve kept the Hawks from taking advantage, the Eagles swooped in. Juniata began carving out a lead one kill and one block at a time. New Paltz survived two match points before Kuhn ended it with a kill from Elias.
Juniata men's volleyball has six national titles under its belt, but this is the programs first trip to the NCAA championship. Two-time NCAA champion Springfield (26-8) comes into the matchup having won seven of its last eight matches.
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