(Posted March 29, 2004)

MEN?S VOLLEYBALL (12-5, 6-4 EIVA Tait): Apr. 2 vs. Springfield*; Apr. 3 vs. George Mason*.
*EIVA Tait match.

Juniata earned a key conference win against Division I EIVA Tait foe Princeton, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to post a 29-31, 26-30, 30-28, 30-24, 15-13 win. Juniata also pressed rival Penn State to five games before falling. The Eagles also took one game from Rutgers-Newark before losing that conference outing 3-1. Against Princeton Kenny Eiser (Central Bucks West/Doylestown) paced the Eagles with 24 kills, four blocks and a .450 attack percentage. Also topping 20 kills was Ryan Genova (Antietam/Reading) who finished with 21 kills and a .380 hitting percentage. He also tossed in three aces. Ricky Ziegler (Northeastern/Manchester) passed out 76 assists, his second highest total of the season. Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) came off the bench to register 11 kills in the win, while Steve Yeager (Hempfield/East Petersburg) also gave Juniata a jump start with eight digs.

Juniata pressed Penn State to five games for only the second time in the program?s history. Eiser also led the Eagles against the Nittany Lions as he knocked out 22 kills. Cordt Withum (Penn Manor/Holtwood) finished a career-high 17 kills while leading Juniata with six blocks. Brian Dinning (Penn Hills/Pittsburg) was also solid for the Blue and Gold as he notched 17 kills and brought-up a career-high 14 digs. Ziegler directed Juniata to a .306 hitting percentage while passing out 70 assists. He also added seven digs and a team-high three serve aces. Against Rutgers-Newark Eiser was joined by Glenn DeHaven (Walt Whitman/South Huntington, N.Y.) with a team-high 14 kills. Both players also hit better than .500 in the match. Genova added 12 kills for the Eagles and was tops with two aces and six digs. Ziegler recorded 55 assists in the contest and Withum led the team with five blocks.

MEN?S TENNIS (2-0, 2-0 Commonwealth): March 31 at Lebanon Valley*; Apr. 3 vs. Albright*.
*MAC Commonwealth match.

Juniata got off to a perfect 2-0 start to the season as they topped Widener and Moravian by identical 4-3 scores. Juniata captured the doubles points in both matches by earning wins in two of the three doubles matches. Neil Eicher (Altoona/Altoona) and Scott Noerr (Lewistown/Lewistown) defeated the number one doubles pair from Widener, while Dave Bullock (Central Bucks East/Jamison) and Osman Homurlu (Tarsus American School/Adana, Turkey) earned a win at number two doubles. Juniata then got singles wins from Eicher, Noerr and Tom Nelson (State College/State College) to earn the win. Eicher then teamed with Satoshi Kimura (L.B. Pearson College (CA)/Nasano, Japan) to earn a doubles win against Moravian. Brandon Long (Lebanon/Lebanon) joined up with Noerr to insure the double point with a win at third doubles. Homurlu, Noerr and Long then claimed singles wins at the fourth, fifth and sixth singles positions to seal the win.

SOFTBALL (8-3, 0-2 Commonwealth): March 30 at Messiah*; Apr. 1 at Seton Hill; Apr. 3 at Albright*.
*Commonwealth game.

Juniata opened the week with a doubleheader sweep of Mount Aloysius, then dropped a pair of tight conference games against Lebanon Valley. Renae Hobbs (Mount Union/Mount Union) and Lizzie Bartosik (Penn/Granger, In.) each tossed no-hitters against Mt Aloysisus, but then were charged with the losses against Lebanon Valley to finish the week with records of 1-1. Hobbs posted a 1.17 earned run average on the week while striking out 10. Bartosik?s ERA was 3.11 and she fanned nine batters on the week. Becky Herr (Hamburg/Hamburg) paced the Juniata offense as she hit .700 for the week. Herr had seven hits with five runs scored and five RBI on the week. Leanne Leymeister (Blue Mountain/Orwigsburg) hit .429 on the week with six hits and four RBI. Amber Helse (Claysburg-Kimmel/Claysburg) notched four hits and a pair of RBI for Juniata, while Amy Gable (Kennard-Dale/Stewartstown) notched five hits, score four runs and drove in two. Casandra Dutzer (Danville/Riverside) had two hits on the week, but they were the first two home runs of her career as she cleared the fence twice in a win over Mt. Aloysius.

BASEBALL (11-6, 6-1 Commonwealth): March 29 vs. Pitt-Greensburg; March 31 at Frostburg State;
Apr. 2 vs. Lebanon Valley*; Apr. 3 at Lebanon Valley (2)*. *Commonwealth Conference game.

Juniata enjoyed a perfect 5-0 week, including a three-game sweep of conference foe Elizabethtown. Juniata claimed 4-3 and 5-4 wins in Huntingdon in a doubleheader against the Blue Jays, then won an 8-7 decision at Elizabethtown. The Eagles also swept a doubleheader against Penn State-Altoona. Jayme Fye (Philipsburg/Philipsburg) claimed a complete-game victory over Elizabethtown to earn a win, then picked up a save in the final game of the set against the Blue Jays. Ryan O?Donnell (Lebanon/Lebanon) and Derek Tyson (Penns Valley/Penns Valley) both earned relief wins against Elizabethtown. Tyson also earned a win in relief against Penn State-Altoona, while Darius Reed (Juniata Valley/Alexandria) tossed a complete game to earn his first collegiate victory. Zach Sternberg (McCaskey/Lancaster) paced the Eagle offense with a .455 average for the week. Sternerg had five hits and three RBI for the week. David Saintz (Titusville/Titusville) led the team with seven hits in the five games while also scoring three runs. Walt Goedkoop (Manheim Township/Lancaster) hit .400 on the week, with a team-best four RBI and his first career home run. Adam Camberg (Altoona/Altoona) had six hits on the week including a pair of doubles and scored three runs. Will Russell (Tyrone/Tyrone) hit .300 on the week and scored a pair of runs and had a walk-off single in game one against Elizabethtown. Marc Frailey (Middletown/Middletown) had four hits, including his first home run of the year, and scored four runs for Juniata.

TRACK AND FIELD: Apr. 3 at Western PA Championships (at Carnegie Mellon).

The Juniata College track and field teams were finally able to compete in an outdoor meet, and the Eagles responded with several solid efforts at the Susquehanna Invitational in Selinsgrove on Saturday. Leading the way for Juniata was Kira Troutman (Line Mountain/Valley View) on the women?s side. Troutman earned a first-place finish in the javelin, with a throw of 141? 06? which ranks among the five-best in the nation this season. The effort bested Troutman?s personal best in the event by more than three feet.

Also earning first-place finishes for Juniata were Stefanie Rynkewitz (Lewistown/Lewistown) and Meredith Troutman (Meyersdale/Meyersdale). Rynkewitz raced to a victory in the 400-meter dash?coming home in a time of 59.08. And Troutman placed first in the 400-meter hurdles, winning the event in a time of 1:06.69. Nancy Hayes (Westminster/Westminster, Md.) added an eighth-place finish for Juniata in the 5,000-meter run. Also earning top-ten finishes was Betsey Kusniez (Boyertown/Gilbertsville) who finished eighth in the hammer throw. And though she finished 15th in the event, Katey Glunt (Bellefonte/Bellefonte) shattered the Juniata school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Glunt finished the event in a time of 12:23.03 which topped the previous record by more than three minutes. A school record also fell on the men?s side as Justin Fritzius (Central York/York) placed 10th in the steeplechase and posted a school record time of 10:04.07. The previous record of 10:34.24 was set in 2001.

Earning the top finish on the day for the Eagle men was Jeremy Weber (Garden Spot/Mohnton). Weber jumped 21? 04?, good for second place in the long jump. Shawn Miller (Altoona/Altoona) placed ninth in the pole vault for Juniata as he cleared 12 feet. Juniata got a pair of strong finishes in the 1,500 meters as Chris Sheaffer (Central York/York) and Mike Vella (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) placed seventh and ninth respectively in the event.

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