(Posted February 6, 2005)

Juniata 3, Princeton 0

Huntingdon, Pa. ? The Juniata College men?s volleyball team used the momentum from a game-one comeback to post a 3-0 victory over visiting Princeton University in Huntingdon Sunday afternoon. The victory was Juniata?s third-straight win over the Tigers, and improved the Eagles to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the EIVA Tait Division. Princeton dropped to 1-4 on the year and 0-2 in the Tait.

Trailing 28-24 in game one, Juniata got a pair of kills from Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) and a double block from Barndt and Ricky Ziegler (Northeastern/Manchester) to pull within one. A pair of Princeton attack errors gave Juniata a 29-28 edge, but the Tigers recovered with a double block to force a 29-29 tie. Barndt responded with a kill, then Ziegler and Cordt Withum (Penn Manor/Holtwood) combined for another block to give Juniata the 31-29 win.

Princeton led early in game two with a kill from Blake Robinson giving the visitors a 12-10 edge. The Eagles answered by scoring seven of the next nine points to take a 17-14 advantage. The Eagles maintained the lead the rest of the way, never letting the Tigers get within two points as they pulled away for the 30-27 win.

The Eagles took control of game one early as the serving of Matt Springer (William Allen/Allentown) paced the Eagles to a 7-2 lead. A block from Nate Ocasio (Northeastern/Manchester) and Withum put Juniata in front 10-2 before Princeton?s Peter Eichler halted the run with a kill. Princeton could not get any closer than six points the rest of the way as late kills from Springer and Dan Rapp (Walt Whitman/Melville, N.Y.) sealed the 30-19 game-three win.

After a slow start, Juniata posted a team attack percentage of .433. The Eagles had just seven attack errors in the final two games combined, while they forced the Tigers into 13 errors and a .188 team hitting percentage in the last two games.

Springer continued his recent hot offensive play as he posted a career-high 19 kills for the Blue and Gold. The junior outside had a .464 hitting percentage while adding four digs. Ocasio added nine kills for Juniata, while also tossing in two serve aces. Ziegler dished out 39 assists and finished with two aces and a team-high three blocks. Glenn DeHaven (Walt Whitman/South Huntington, N.Y.) posted eight kills and matched that total with a team-high eight digs.

Eichler was tops for Princeton in the match as he finished with 15 kills. Sean Vitousek chipped in with 12 kills. Jack Pichard directed the Princeton offense with 35 assists and had a team-high four blocks. Blake Robinson led the Tigers with five digs.

Juniata returns to action Wednesday evening as the Eagles travel to play at EIVA Tait opponent George Mason.

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