(Posted February 1, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Third-ranked Juniata College won its opening game for the fourth match in a row - then kept right on winning en route to a 3-0 victory over no. 6 New York University, in men's volleyball action Friday night at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center in Huntingdon, Pa. The win improved Juniata's record to 3-1, and was the Eagles' first three-game victory of the season. NYU fell to 5-3 with the loss. In game one, the Eagles pulled ahead to a six-point lead, 19-13, after three straight points off the service of Evan Halteman (Perkiomenville, Pa./Christopher Dock). NYU eventually bounced back to tie the game at 22-22, only to see the Eagles promptly pull ahead by two points. The margin reached three at 27-24 following a pair of kills by Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield), but a side-out kill by NYU's Jon Wintermeyer squelched the Juniata run. An Eagle attack error cut the Eagle lead down to 27-26, but the two teams would trade five consecutive side-out points until a Wanner kill wrapped-up the win for Juniata. Game two was a neck-and-neck affair, with Juniata leading most of the way. NYU briefly took the lead at 18-19 following a kill by Willy McFarland, but after alternating side-out points, Halteman tied the game at 20-20 with a kill and Juniata scored two more points off Halteman's serve to go up 22-20. Neither team was able to take more than a two-point lead, until a service error by NYU's Mike Ferragonio left Juniata serving for game point. Dan Powers (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) had the game-winning kill, off a serve by Wanner. The final game began as if it might be a tightly-battled contest, with Juniata holding a slim lead when the score reached 19-17. However the Eagles would take command by scoring five of the next seven points, including a pair of kills by Powers and a service ace by Brian Jaron (Severna Park, Md./Mt. St. Joseph), to take a 24-19 lead. Matt Fritz (Churchville, Md./John Carroll) eventually finished off the match with his kill off the serve of Zach Bock (Mount Wolf, Pa./Northeastern). Wanner paced the Juniata attack with 16 kills, with Fritz adding 13. Powers logged 10 kills on 13 total attacks for a .692 attack percentage. Matt Werle (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) had 46 assists to go with his six total blocks; Bock and Werle led the Eagles with seven digs each. NYU was led by Wintermeyer with 12 kills, with Devon Zolnowski chipping in with 10. Ilan Goldstein tallied 37 assists. NYU had just 5.0 total team blocks and 19 digs for the match, with David Tener accounting for eight digs. Juniata opens its EIVA Tait Division slate on Saturday night at the Kennedy S+RC, when it hosts George Mason University. Match start is slated for 7:00 p.m. -30-

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