(Posted February 3, 2006)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? The Juniata College men?s volleyball team was able to take one game from 12th-ranked Penn State but it would not be enough as the Eagles had their three-match winning streak snapped as they fell to the Nittany Lions 3-1 in an EIVA Tait Division match in State College Friday night.

Juniata fell to 3-2 with the loss and is now 1-1 in the EIVA Tait, while Penn State improved to 3-4 overall and 3-0 in the EIVA. The home team claimed the match by game scores of 30-23, 22-30, 30-18, 30-18.

Juniata controlled its successful game two most of the way, as a Matt Werle (Meadville/Meadville) kill followed by a Penn State attack error gave the Eagles a 17-13 edge. Penn State got no closer than three the rest of the game, as a late kills from Glenn DeHaven (Walt Whitman/South Huntington, N.Y.) and Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) kept Penn State at bay. Back-to-back kills from Derek Stanley (Manheim Township/Lancaster) closed the game for the Eagles.

The Eagles battled back from a big deficit in game one, but were unable to complete the comeback. Trailing 21-13 a pair of DeHaven kills sparked a 5-0 Juniata run that cut the deficit to 21-18 and forced a Penn State timeout. But the home team responded by scoring four of the next five points to pull away for the 30-23 win.
After Juniata earned the game-two win, the home team took control midway through game three. With the game tied at 11, Penn State reeled off five of the next six points to pull in front 16-12. A Barndt kill halted the run, but after the Eagles close back within three Penn State posted a 5-0 run that left them in control as they earned the 30-18 win.

The Eagles were unable to break the momentum in game four as Penn State surged out to a 16-7 edge on a Matt Proper kill. Consecutive kills from DeHaven and Ryan McGinley (Pennridge/Perkasie) pulled Juniata back within seven but that was as close as Juniata got the rest of the way.

Stanley led Juniata as he knocked out a career-high 13 kills. DeHaven was also in double figures with 11 finishes. Barndt posted 10 kills and had a team-best five blocks. Werle passed out 40 assists for the Blue and Gold and also led the team with a pair of aces and matched Barndt with five blocks. Casey Dale (Cochranton/Cochranton) was tops with seven digs.

Proper and Matt Anderson tied for the Penn State lead with 14 kills apiece, while Max Holt added 10. Proper also tossed in a match-high three aces, while leading the team with five blocks. Dan O?Dell directed the Nittany Lion offense with 49 assists. Kevin Wentzel brought up seven digs for the Penn State defense.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they face Division I IPFW in a rematch of the Eagles? season-opener. The match will be played at Penn State as part of the second day of competition in the Penn State Invitational.

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