Posted: Apr 27, 2013
The CVC saw both of their member institutions knocked out of the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament on Friday as Juniata College fell 3-0 to Rivier College and UC Santa Cruz fell 3-0 to Nazareth College.
FOLLOWING STORY, COURTESY OF JUNIATA SPORTS INFORMATION
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A slow start hurt No. 8 Juniata College men's volleyball in its NCAA Quarterfinal match against No. 15 Rivier University Friday night. The Eagles (24-12) fell 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 25-23) to end their historic season. Rivier improved to 27-11 on the year and will face host Nazareth College Saturday, April 27 at 6 p.m. in the national semifinal.
Sophomore Alex McColgin (Buffalo, N.Y./Hamburg) finished with a match-high 17 kills, hitting a team-best .429 in the loss. He led the team in kills and attacks coming into the match and finishes the year with career-best 312 kills under his belt. Matt Elias (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) closed out his stellar freshman campaign by racking up 33 assists. The Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Freshman of the Year has 784 for his career.
Game One
It was a defensive display at the net by both team's big men. The teams combined for eight blocks in game one alone. Rivier was the statistical leader in the category coming into the matchup with Juniata ranked fourth.
The game was tied several times as the programs battled for the lead down the stretch. Juniata called timeout after a kill by All-American middle Aaron Almario gave Rivier the 20-19 lead.
McColgin came out of the break swinging and sided-out with a kill from the outside. The game was tied three more times before a kill by Almario had the Raiders on game point, 24-23. A back row kill by McColgin tied the game up at 24-all. Junior Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) then hit a cross-court shot that landed in front of the 10ft line that put the Eagles on game point, 25-24.
Rivier responded by a kill from Terence Matall to tie it back up and a kill by Chris Markuson put the Raiders on game point again. But an attack error by Markuson tied it up for the sixth and final time at 26-all.
Markuson put the next ball down for game point. And an ace secured the win.
Game Two
Rivier led by four (8-4) before the Eagles began driving back into the match and tied it up at 9-all. But the Raiders began to pull away again, leading by as much as five (17-12) when sophomore All-American Paul Kuhn (York, Pa./Central York) slammed down a ball on the right side.
Elias went right back to Kuhn for another Kill and Juniata pulled within three (17-14). Sophomore Justin Waldorf (Eden, N.Y./Eden) then dropped in back-to-back aces on float serves and Juniata suddenly trailed by just one, 17-16. That would be the closest Rivier would allow the Eagles as they pushed to a 25-21 win.
Game Three
The final game was played incredibly tight, and was tied three times before the eighth point by each team. Rivier took the 12-9 lead when the Eagles began rallying again, pulling within two (15-13) and forcing the Raiders to take a timeout.
Down 20-18, a big block in the middle by freshman Chad Albert (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) followed by a kill from the back row by McColgin tied the game up again. But Rivier retook the lead.
A kill by McColgin pulled Juniata within one (23-22) again and forced another Rivier timeout. The Raiders came out and sided-out to earn match-point. Another kill by McColgin kept Juniata's hopes alive. But a block on the right side ended the match and the Eagles season.
Juniata finished its 2013 season having won six of its last seven Division III matches and setting program milestones. The Eagles earned the programs first CVC title and NCAA Tournament berth. They also had back-to-back 20+ win seasons for the first time in program history. Under head coach Kevin Moore, Juniata has amassed a 70-35 overall record and gone 22-2 in conference play over the past three years.
FOLLOWING STORY, COURTESY OF NAZARETH SPORTS INFORMATION
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth defeated UC Santa Cruz in three sets in its NCAA Division III quarterfinal men's volleyball match Friday evening in the Kidera Gymnasium. The scores of the match were 25-16, 27-25, 25-22. Freshman Tim Zyburt finished with a match-high 15 kills to lead the Golden Flyers past the Banana Slugs.
Nazareth, ranked second nationally, improves to 35-1 overall. UC Santa Cruz, ranked third nationally, falls to 15-8 overall with the loss. Nazareth advances to play the 15th-ranked Rivier, who defeated eighth-ranked Juniata in three sets. The Golden Flyers defeated Rivier during the regular season in three sets in New York City on February 24th and in five sets at Nazareth on March 22nd. Saturday's semifinal will be at 6 p.m. Springfield (30-3) and Baruch (34-5) will play in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Each won quarterfinal matches in three sets. Springfield defeated Kean and Baruch eliminated Stevens.
The Golden Flyers dominated the opening set with a .400 hitting percentage as Nazareth converted 14 kills. Zyburt and classmate Grant Levermore finished with five kills and four kills, respectively, in the first set. The Golden Flyers' defense, meanwhile, stymied the Banana Slugs as Santa Cruz finished with a .095 hitting percentage with only five kills. Nazareth teamed for 12 digs in the set.
In the second set, Nazareth fell behind by six points, 12-6, and five points, 13-8, before scoring 10 of the next 14 points to claim a 23-22 lead. The Golden Flyers won the set on a kill by sophomore Luke Lawatsch. Senior Robert Kraft had three kills during Nazareth's rally. A kill by sophomore Brody Cord tied the match at 21 points apiece before Nazareth took the lead.
The Banana Slugs converted their first nine attack attempts to build their lead. Santa Cruz finished with a hitting percentage of .438 with 19 kills and five errors in the set. Nazareth recored 14 kills and four errors in the set for a hitting percentage of .312. Kraft finished with five kills in the set for the Golden Flyers. He finished the match with nine kills and one error on 13 attempts to finish with a match-high hitting percentage of .615.
In the third set, Nazareth fell behind 17-14 after the teams opened the set trading points. Following a Golden Flyers' timeout, Nazareth scored six of the next eight points to take the lead. Lawatsch, Zyburt, and Levermore each had kills while the Golden Flyers' defense forced the Banana Slugs into two attack errors. Following a kill by Zyburt to put Nazareth a match-point, 24-22, Santa Cruz's Salvatore LaCavera put his attempt out of play to advance the Golden Flyers to Saturday's semifinal match.
Nazareth finished with 15 kills and four attack errors in the third set for a hitting percentage of .355. Santa Cruz had eight kills and eight hitting errors for a .000 percentage.
Levermore finished with eight kills and Lawatsch had seven kills in addition to the kills from Zyburt and Kraft. Cord and senior Alex Houghtalen each chipped in two kills. Senior EJ Wells-Spicer finished with a match-high 34 assists to direct Nazareth's attack.
LaCavera had a team-high 10 kills for the Banana Slugs while Blake Chadwick had 29 assists.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth defeated UC Santa Cruz in three sets in its NCAA Division III quarterfinal men's volleyball match Friday evening in the Kidera Gymnasium. The scores of the match were 25-16, 27-25, 25-22. Freshman Tim Zyburt finished with a match-high 15 kills to lead the Golden Flyers past the Banana Slugs.
Nazareth, ranked second nationally, improves to 35-1 overall. UC Santa Cruz, ranked third nationally, falls to 15-8 overall with the loss. Nazareth advances to play the 15th-ranked Rivier, who defeated eighth-ranked Juniata in three sets. The Golden Flyers defeated Rivier during the regular season in three sets in New York City on February 24th and in five sets at Nazareth on March 22nd. Saturday's semifinal will be at 6 p.m. Springfield (30-3) and Baruch (34-5) will play in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Each won quarterfinal matches in three sets. Springfield defeated Kean and Baruch eliminated Stevens.
The Golden Flyers dominated the opening set with a .400 hitting percentage as Nazareth converted 14 kills. Zyburt and classmate Grant Levermore finished with five kills and four kills, respectively, in the first set. The Golden Flyers' defense, meanwhile, stymied the Banana Slugs as Santa Cruz finished with a .095 hitting percentage with only five kills. Nazareth teamed for 12 digs in the set.
In the second set, Nazareth fell behind by six points, 12-6, and five points, 13-8, before scoring 10 of the next 14 points to claim a 23-22 lead. The Golden Flyers won the set on a kill by sophomore Luke Lawatsch. Senior Robert Kraft had three kills during Nazareth's rally. A kill by sophomore Brody Cord tied the match at 21 points apiece before Nazareth took the lead.
The Banana Slugs converted their first nine attack attempts to build their lead. Santa Cruz finished with a hitting percentage of .438 with 19 kills and five errors in the set. Nazareth recored 14 kills and four errors in the set for a hitting percentage of .312. Kraft finished with five kills in the set for the Golden Flyers. He finished the match with nine kills and one error on 13 attempts to finish with a match-high hitting percentage of .615.
In the third set, Nazareth fell behind 17-14 after the teams opened the set trading points. Following a Golden Flyers' timeout, Nazareth scored six of the next eight points to take the lead. Lawatsch, Zyburt, and Levermore each had kills while the Golden Flyers' defense forced the Banana Slugs into two attack errors. Following a kill by Zyburt to put Nazareth a match-point, 24-22, Santa Cruz's Salvatore LaCavera put his attempt out of play to advance the Golden Flyers to Saturday's semifinal match.
Nazareth finished with 15 kills and four attack errors in the third set for a hitting percentage of .355. Santa Cruz had eight kills and eight hitting errors for a .000 percentage.
Levermore finished with eight kills and Lawatsch had seven kills in addition to the kills from Zyburt and Kraft. Cord and senior Alex Houghtalen each chipped in two kills. Senior EJ Wells-Spicer finished with a match-high 34 assists to direct Nazareth's attack.
LaCavera had a team-high 10 kills for the Banana Slugs while Blake Chadwick had 29 assists.