(Posted March 24, 2006)

Juniata 3, Springfield 0

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ? The Juniata College men?s volleyball team rode the momentum from a tough game-one win to a 3-0 victory over Division III rival Springfield College (Mass.) in Springfield Friday evening. The win raised Juniata?s record to 8-9 on the season while Springfield fell to 9-13 on the year.

Juniata, the top-ranked team in Division III, remained unbeaten against Division III foes on the season as the Eagles defeated the sixth-ranked Pride by game scores of 34-32, 30-26, 30-25.

Trailing late in game one, the Eagles got a kill from Matt Springer (William Allen/Allentown) to complete the comeback and tie the score at 28. The team?s then traded sideouts before the Eagles earned the win on back-to-back services aces from Nate Ocasio (Northeastern/Manchester).

Game two was tight late as well as Springfield got two kills from Javier Rosario to knot the score at 24. From there it was all Juniata as the Eagles scored six of the final eight points, closing the game with consecutive kills from Matt Fritz (John Carroll/Churchville, Md.).

A late closing push was the difference again in game three. After an Eric Palumbo kill tied the score at 20, Juniata got consecutive kills from Ocasio and Springer to take control again. A late serving run from Matt Werle (Meadville/Meadville) helped Juniata close out the 30-25 win.

Fritz led the Eagles with 12 kills in the match while also adding a team-best 10 digs for his second double-double of the season. Ocasio added 11 finishes for the Eagles and paced the team with two aces. Werle passed out 41 assists in the match, while also posting five blocks. Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) led the team with six blocks, while Fritz also chipped in five.

Palumbo led all players with 13 kills in the match while Ryan Frederickson knocked out 11 finishes for the Pride. Chris Shekell dished out 35 assists in the match in directing the Springfield offense. Frederickson led the team with 10 digs while Andrew Sipe registered a match-high 10 blocks.

Juniata will be back in action Saturday night with an EIVA Tait Division match at Rutgers-Newark.

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