(Posted March 6, 2010)

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Juniata College outside hitters Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) and Chris Vrooman (Baden, Pa./Ambridge Area) were rock steady but could not lead the Eagle men's volleyball team past Princeton University in a 3-2 loss to the Tigers, Saturday night at Dillon Gym.

Wanner led Juniata (5-8, 1-4 EIVA Tait) with 23 kills on 53 swings, and also turned up a team-high 10 digs with a pair of blocks. Vrooman had 18 kills while hitting .350 on the antenna, with a pair of service aces and eight digs.

Juniata's middle hitters rebounded from the off night they had on Friday against Springfield College. Senior middle Evan Halteman (Perkiomenville, Pa./Christopher Dock) tallied 12 kills on 25 swings, with a .360 attack percentage. Sophomore middle Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) topped the Eagle hitters with a .370 hitting clip, logging 14 kills on 27 attacks with four errors.

Wolff had a team-high six total blocks while Halteman had four, pacing Juniata in a 11.0 to 8.0 advantage in blocks.

The Eagles were on the short end of digs, as Princeton out-dug Juniata 60-37. The Tigers studiously avoided Eagle libero Anthony Damiano (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) in their attacks, and the senior finished with only five digs.

Princeton tallied five players with ten-or-more kills, led by outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli with 24 kills and a .477 attack percentage. Fellow pin hitter Carl Hamming also put up impressive numbers, hitting .406 with 19 kills on 32 swings while getting a hand in four blocks and sprawling for 14 digs. A third outside hitter, Pat Schwagler, managed 13 kills while hitting just .172.

In the middle, Jeff McCown and Michael Dye tallied 19 and 14 kills respectively. The two combined to hit .490 over the match with seven total blocks.

Juniata setter Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) set 71 assists, leading an Eagle squad that hit .329 for the match.

The Eagles are off for the remainder of spring break, and will return to action on March 19-20 with a two-match road trip to Chicago. Juniata will face Lewis University on Friday, March 19, following by a match against Loyola University on Saturday, March 20.

-30-

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.