(Posted December 3, 2007)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Juniata College men's volleyball team was picked to finish fifth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association's Tait Division, in preseason voting by the league's coaches.
The Eagles garnered 15 points in the poll, ahead of East Stroudsburg (12 points) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (10 points).
Penn State was tapped by the coaches to win the Tait Division, with 36 points including six first-place votes. George Mason received one first-place vote and 30 points overall, to finish second in the preseason poll. Princeton University (24 points) was third, followed by St. Francis, Pa. (20) in fourth, and Juniata.
In the Hay Division, Springfield College is the preseason favorite with 24 points and four first-place votes. New York University (19 points) is second, and Rutgers-Newark (17 points) received one first-place vote and finished third in the poll. Harvard (14 points, 1 first-place vote), Sacred Heart (10 points), and New Haven (6 points) round out the poll.
The Eagles finished 17-9 overall last season, 6-6 in the EIVA Tait Division, winning the program's fourth-straight Molten Division III Men's Volleyball Championship and reaching the quarterfinals of the EIVA Championship.
Juniata's 2008 squad will lose the services of three of its top four kills leaders from a year ago, but returns junior setter Matt Werle (Meadville, Pa./Meadville), the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) 2007 Division III Player of the Year; and senior outside hitter Matt Fritz (Churchville, Md./John Carroll), who was second last season in total kills (313, 3.23/g) and service aces (24, 0.25/g).
Juniata opens its 2008 season on January 23 at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center against Stevens Tech.

2008 EIVA Preseason Poll
Tait Division
1. Penn State (6) - 36
2. George Mason (1) - 30
3. Princeton - 24
4. St. Francis, Pa. - 20
5. Juniata College - 15
6. East Stroudsburg - 12
7. NJIT - 10

Hay Division
1. Springfield College (4) - 24
2. New York Univ. - 19
3. Rutgers-Newark (1) - 17
4. Harvard (1) - 14
5. Sacred Heart - 10
6. New Haven - 6

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