Juniata College began the week with the most tournament titles in Continental Volleyball Conference history but it had been six years since their last, until Saturday; when they won the fourth championship in program history. The Eagles defeated Rutgers University-Newark 3-1 on Saturday, winning 25-18, 27-25, 21-25, and 25-23.
Juniata's last championship was in 2017 and twice reached the championship match since only to fall short. But on Saturday the #3 nationally ranked Eagles pushed its winning streak to 14 matches, tying for the third-longest streak in CVC history.
The opening set was one of contrasts with Juniata coming out on fire, hitting .444 with 10 kills and 2 errors on 18 attackers. Meanwhile, Rutgers-Newark hit a match-low .067, committing 9 errors with 11 kills on 30 attempts. It was a three-point lead for Juniata mid-way through the first set when Luke Hoffman put down a kill to start a 4-1 run for the Eagles. The two teams traded service errors for the final points of the opening set with Juniata coming out on top.
The Scarlet Raiders held a 24-23 lead with serve in the second set until Max Cooley ripped a shot to draw the score even. Justin Tuohy put the Scarlet Raiders back on top but a kill by Kevin Duffy III and a double block from Austin Goodsel and Luke Hoffman secured the win for Juniata.
Rutgers-Newark grabbed a 6-2 lead to start the third set and this time they did not relinquish the lead, opening up a lead by as large as six points.
However, Juniata responded by taking a 7-3 lead of its own in the fourth set. The Scarlet Raiders fought their way back to a 15-13 lead but that would be their last lead of the match. A service error gave the ball back to Juniata who then rolled off five straight points including back-to-back aces by Max Cooley. With the score tied at 22, Cooley rose to the occasion again, this time with back-to-back kills. After a timeout, Cooley finished off the day with the championship point on a kill, his third straight point for the Eagles.
Cooley finished the match with 9 kills and 4 aces, earning All-Tournament team honors. Kevin Duffy III led all players with 13 kills, picking up Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and was joined on the All-Tournament by Jeremiah Burden. This is Juniata's fourth CVC Championship in program history, joining the 2013, 2014, and 2017 teams and earn this year's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament.
Justin Tuohy finished with 11 kills and 8 digs for Rutgers-Newark while Daniel Quay totaled 10 kills as both players were named to the All-Tournament team. Also being named to the All-Tournament team were Luke Frankenfield (Kean), Hayden Kerekes (Marymount), Jarrett Carrano (Randolph-Macon), and McKay Walker (Southern Virginia).