The Juniata College Eagles are the 2013 Continental Volleyball Conference Tournament Champions after a 3-0 sweep of UC Santa Cruz, winning 27-25, 25-22 and 25-22. The youthful Eagles, without a senior on their squad, continued their recent trend of playing with their backs against the wall. On Saturday evening the Eagles found themselves down by as many as six points including down to set point at 24-21 in the opening set before turning the tables and grabbing the match momentum.
"We have had a lot of recent matches where we have had to battle back in," said Juniata head coach Kevin Moore. "It is not something that is comfortable as a coach but these guys have shown that they can come together and play as a team. We have had a lot of fight and overcome some obstacles this season."
Saturday's championship match pitted the two top seeds from each division with UC Santa Cruz and Juniata meeting for the first time this year. UC Santa Cruz, the #3 ranked team in the nation, jumped out to an 18-12 lead but Juniata slowly chipped away. Trailing 24-21 and without serve Juniata, ranked #8 in the nation, appeared headed towards going down early in the match. That is when the Eagles were sparked by Tournament MVP, setter Matt Elias. Elias teamed up with Joe Bortak for a double block that turned the tide.
"Going up for blocks with Bortak (Joe) is easy for me," said Elias. "He sets up big at the net and always comes up big for us."
The Eagles followed with three more points to take a 25-24 lead and ended the set on a service ace by Ross Madden.
With momentum firmly on their side Juniata led for the majority of the remainder of the match. After leading by as many four points in the second set Juniata still had to hold off a Banana Slugs team that did not go quietly. The Banana Slugs closed the score to 17-15 but were never able to get any closer than two points down the stretch. Once again it was the Eagles' Elias that made the decisive play in the set. After the Banana Slugs were rallying to attempt to close within a point Elias surprised everyone in the gym with a dump ball over the net; finding nothing but the hardwood for the set winning point.
"For a first year player to come in and do what he (Elias) has done is remarkable," said Moore. "Just a few weeks ago he moved over to setter and the growth he has shown in grasping the game and getting the ball to the right players at the right time has been outstanding."
Elias' efficiency is what carried his team in the championship game on Saturday as the Eagles committed just eight attack errors with 44 kills, hitting .424 as a team. One of his favorite players to set up was Alex McColgin who finished with 11 kills in 19 attempts with just one erorr.
"We really came together today," said McColgin. "The key is that we started playing for the next to us. That attitude and cohesiveness was key to our team's success this weekend."
Juniata trailed just once in the third set, down 5-4, until back to back kills by Paul Kuhn gave them the lead for good. The Eagles would hold the Banana Slugs at bay the rest of the way on their way to the 2013 CVC Tournament title.
UC Santa Cruz was led by Harland Frost's 14 kills while Salvatore La Cavera finished with 13 kills. The Banana Slugs hit .299 as a team with 45 kills and 16 errors in 97 attempts.
Kuhn led the way for Juniata with 13 kills while McColgin and Ross Madden each added 11 kills. Elias finished with 41 assists, four digs and two block assists in the match as Juniata claims an automatic berth into the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball National Tournament. The national tournament field will be announced on Sunday night.
Earlier in the day, in the semifinals matches of the tournament, Juniata defeated Carthage 3-1 and UC Santa Cruz topped Stevenson 3-2. Following the presentation of the 2013 CVC Tournament Championship trophy the All-Tournament team was announced. From Juniata Matt Elias, Alex McColgin and Ross Madden picked up honors while Salvatore La Cavera and Harland Frost from UC Santa Cruz, Mike Jebbens from Carthage College and Jon Martin from Stevenson University were also named to the All-Tournament team. Elias was named the Tournament MVP.