(Posted January 15, 2005)

IPFW 3, Juniata 2

Fort Wayne, In. ? The Juniata College men?s volleyball team came as close to pulling off an upset over Division I Indiana University, Purdue University Fort-Wayne as is possible Saturday night, but the Eagles fell just short dropping a 3-2 decision in Fort Wayne Saturday evening. Juniata opens the season 0-2, but with both losses coming against Division I opponents. IPFW improved to 1-0 with the victory.

Juniata dropped the first two games of the match by scores of 30-28 and 30-28, then rallied to win games three and four 34-32 and 35-33. The Eagles then could not pull out game five, dropping the decisive game by a 15-12 score.

The Eagles got off to a sluggish start but then saw their hitting percentage jump up in games three and four. Juniata hit .432 as a team in game three then finished with a .372 percentage in game four. Juniata?s downfall may have been at the service line as the Eagles hurt themselves with 32 service errors in the match.

Glenn DeHaven (Walt Whitman/South Huntingdon, N.Y.) was one of five Eagles to finish in double figures in kills as he knocked out a career-high 20 finishes. Nick Bernardo (Christopher Dock/Lansdale) finished 17 chances for Juniata, while Cordt Withum (Penn Manor/Holtwood) added 16 kills and a .519 hitting percentage. Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) and Nathanael Ocasio (Northeastern/Manchester) both registered career-highs with 15 kills for Juniata which hit .304 as a team for the match. Setter Ricky Ziegler (Northeastern/Manchester) was one shy of matching his career best as he passed out 77 assists.

Defensively, Withum was the biggest force at the net for the Eagles as he finished with a team-high three blocks. Tim Cole (Pennsbury/Yardley) added one more career high for Juniata as he brought up 27 digs.

2004 Division I All-American Matt Zbyszewski led all players with 27 kills in the match, while also leading IPFW with 14 digs. Serdar Sikca notched 19 finishes for the home team, with Josh Stewart adding 11. Mike Randolph passed out 57 assists while contributing a team-high three aces, 12 digs and eight blocks.

Juniata will continue its battles with Division I teams on Wednesday when the Eagles play at local rival Saint Francis.

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