HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's volleyball team played tough but ultimately lost, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 27-25), to #1 defending national champion SUNY New Paltz in front of a ruckus crowd Friday evening inside Memorial Gymnasium on day one of the Juniata Invitational.
The first set saw SUNY New Paltz open an 8-13 lead early as the Eagles faced an early hole. The Eagles tied the score twice, but couldn't take the lead until a block from Sean Cavanagh (Cranberry Twp., Pa. / Seneca Valley) made it 20-19. The teams traded points, with the Hawks evening things at 21-21. The visitors took the next two points to make it 23-21 to force a JC timeout. A crosscourt kill from Robert Bowling (Columbus, Ohio / Hilliard Darby) made it 22-23, but SUNY New Paltz took the next two points to end set one 22-25.
The second set was even tighter than the first as neither team led by more than three at any point. A kill that bounced off the head of the New Paltz blocker made it 22-21. The teams traded points with a service error for JC giving them back the lead, but the Hawks tied it back up at 23 with a kill. A kill from Joe Fick (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) gave the Eagles set point, and following a New Paltz timeout, Bowling smashed a ball down the line in back the right corner to end the set 25-23.
Juniata fell behind early and was playing catchup for all of set three. With the score at 19-22, David Hibner (Burke, Va. / Lake Braddock Secondary) swatted a kill from the middle to pull JC within two, but they couldn't close the gap as the Hawks took the final three points to win set three, 20-25.
The fourth set saw the Eagles hit a respectable .308, but the Hawks hit blistering .625 as Juniata battled tough but ultimately came up a bit short. Juniata got to set point twice, with a kill from Kevin Duffy (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle HS), making it 24-23 and later made it 25-24. But from the point, the Hawks scored via two kills and an attack error take the match, 25-27.
Juniata will take on Stevenson, tomorrow at 4:30.
