ALLIANCE, Ohio- The #7 Juniata men's volleyball team picked up a pair of victories as they won 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-11, 25-21) over Aurora and 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) over Mount Union Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles dropped the opening set against Aurora 22-25, in a tightly contest set that saw a Tyler Goldsborough kill bring JC even at 22. The Spartans took the final three points of the set on a block and two kills to take set one.
Set two was again decided late, with the Spartans going on a late four-point run to capture a 19-21 lead. A service error and a block by Chase Robbins and Chris Mellor pulled Juniata even, but Aurora answered with a kill. Another service error was followed by another block by the Robbins Mellor tandem to give JC the lead back. Juniata committed an error, before Robbins ended the set with back-to-back solo blocks to tie the match at one set apiece.
Juniata stormed out in the third, jumping on the Spartans 12-5 and never relenting. They scored the final four points of the set to win 25-11 on a Juan Armando kill.
The Eagles followed a similar script in the final set, as they got ahead early and never trailed. The Spartans got within three in the final points of the match before Robbins eventually ended things with his 10th kill of the match.
Luke Hoffman had 10 kills (.883) with an ace, a dig, and three block assists, while Robbins totaled 10 kills, three aces, 12 digs, and six blocks. Goldsborough added 11 kills, an ace, and seven digs. Grant Lorelli had 39 assists, two aces, seven digs, and six blocks.
Juniata hit .423 in the opening set against Mount Union and nursed a lead throughout the set. With the score at 22-17, a service error by the Purple Raiders and a block by Mellor and Goldsborough put the Eagles at set point. Two points later, Robbins ended it with a kill.
Juniata trailed 10-12 early before a 6-1 run flipped the score in the Eagle's favor. Mount Union was within one or two points the rest of the set, but the Eagles managed to stay ahead. JC took the final two points via Purple Raider errors to win 25-22.
The third set was tightly contested as the Purple Raiders tried to extend the match with the score even at 15-15. The Eagles took five of the next six and maintained the rest. A Hoffman kill sent JC to match point, and a Purple Raider error ended the match.
Robbins led the way with a career-high 16 kills (.219), six digs, and a solo block. Goldsborough totaled nine kills, two aces, 10 digs, and three block assists, while Hoffman had eight kills, an ace, a dig, and two block assists. Lorelli had 37 assists, six digs and four blocks.
The Eagles return home to take on Nichols on Friday at 5:00.
