(Posted April 2, 2004)

Springfield 3, Juniata 1

4/2/04-- Huntingdon, Pa. ? In a rematch of the 2003 Molten Division III Championship, the Juniata College men?s volleyball team suffered a similar fate as the Eagles fell to Division III rival Springfield in Huntingdon on Friday night. Juniata is 12-6 on the season and 6-5 in the EIVA Tait Division, while Springfield improved to 7-12 overall and 4-6 in the Tait.

After dropping the first two games by scores of 30-24 and 30-27, Juniata rebounded with a 30-25 win in game three. But the visitors won a back-and-forth game five by a 30-28 score to claim the win. The loss was Juniata?s first of the season to a Division III opponent. Juniata had topped Springfield 3-1 earlier this year at Springfield.

Serving troubles were the story of game one for the Blue and Gold as Juniata committed seven serve errors in the first game. With the game tied at 16, the Pride registered six of the next eight points with Clay Spiegel notching a kill and a pair of aces to put the visitors on top 22-18. A kill from Cordt Withum (Penn Manor/Holtwood) brought Juniata back within six at 26-20, and three Eagles combined for a block to make the score 27-23 but Springfield got a late ace from Mark Schlabach to earn the win.

Game two saw Juniata pull in front early as Kenny Eiser (Central Bucks West/Doylestown) knocked in an ace for a 14-12 lead. Ryan Genova (Antietam/Reading) added a kill to make the score 17-13 and force a Springfield timeout. The Pride made a run out of the timeout and would tie up the game at 24. Brian Dinning (Penn Hills/Pittsburgh) answered with a kill and Juniata would later tie the game at 27 before Springfield scored the final three points for the 30-27 win.

Juniata jumped out early in game three as Eiser recorded a pair of solo blocks to put Juniata up 6-1. Juniata would extend that lead to 14-8 and then 17-10. Springfield roared back to cut the deficit to 17-15. The Eagles then went to the bench as Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) and Matt Springer (William Allen/Allentown) provided a spark for the Eagles. Barndt had a pair of kills and a pair of blocks down the stretch to help the Eagles claim game three 30-25.

Game four was tight throughout as neither team led by more than three points. Withum put together three kills in five points to post Juniata to a 19-18 lead. Springfield tied things at 21 only to see Dinning finish an attack to put Juniata back on top. Back-to-back kills from Brandon Mueller and Spiegel swung the advantage back to Springfield ad they went in from 23-22. Juniata would never lead again thought Dinning tied things back up with his 22nd kill of the night to make it 27-27. Spiegel and Nick Beer then combined on a block and Mueller ended the match with a kill for the 30-28 win.

Dinning led all players with 22 kills on the night, while Glenn DeHaven (Walt Whitman/South Huntington, N.Y.) added 10. Setter Ricky Ziegler (Northeastern/Manchester) passed out 54 assists for Juniata and added a pair of aces. Withum led all players with nine blocks, and libero Tim Cole (Pennsbury/Yardley) paced the team with 12 digs.

Mueller finished with a team-high 15 kills for Springfield while Hosley added 12. Schlabach passed out 48 assists on the match. Eduardo Stawinski led all players with 17 digs. Beer, Mueller and Ricky Albano all had four blocks for the visitors.

Juniata will wrap up its regular season on Saturday when the Eagles host EIVA Tait Division foe George Mason.

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