(Posted April 24, 2007)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Juniata College men\'s volleyball team has received another pair of postseason honors as the Eagles placed two players on the 2007 EIVA All-East Team which recognizes the top 20 players in the 14-team EIVA including Division I, II and III players. Senior Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) and sophomore Matt Werle (Meadville/Meadville) were both picked as second-team All-EIVA choices, and were the only two Division III players chosen for the All-East squad. Barndt becomes just the third Juniata player to earn All-East recognition three times in his career, as he was picked for the second team as sophomore, junior and senior. He was also a three-time AVCA Division III All-American. Barndt enjoyed his finest season as established new career highs in virtually every category. He led Juniata with 113 blocks, which was a career best, and a .449 hitting percentage which was also the best of his career. Barndt closed his career with 365 blocks, the fourth-highest total in Juniata history. He pounded out exactly 300 kills in his final season giving him more than 900 for his career, and he closed his career with a hitting percentage of .420. Barndt was twice selected as the EIVA Tait Division Player of the Week during the season, and was also named to the All-Tournament Team as Juniata won its fourth-consecutive Molten Division III Men\'s Invitational Volleyball Championship. He established a new career high with 25 kills in a win over East Stroudsburg, a match in which he posted a remarkable .821 hitting percentage. Barndt reached double figures in kills on 16 occasions on the year, and produced a new career high with nine blocks in a victory over Springfield. Werle caps an outstanding sophomore season by claiming All-East recognition for the first time in his career. He also was selected to the AVCA Division III All-American Team, and was chosen as the AVCA Division III Player of the Year. He passed out a career-best 1,326 assists in his second year, and he ranked among the leaders in Division III and led the EIVA in assists per game. Werle posted 71 assists in the championship match of the Molten III Championship, a total that matched his career best which came in a five-game win over Division III rival New York earlier in the season. Fifteen times during the season he finished with at least 50 assists in a match, and he had five double-doubles in which he reached double figures in assists and digs. He also ranked second on Juniata in digs with 169 and blocks with 90, both of which marked new career highs. He helped Juniata compile a .289 hitting percentage as a team which was third in the EIVA and the Eagles were tops in the conference in kills per game. Werle was named the Most Valuable Player of the Molten Division III Tournament, as well as the Rutgers-Newark Golden Dome Classic. He also earned EIVA Tait Division Player of the Week honors once during the season. Juniata closed its season with a record of 17-9, and became the first program to win four consecutive Molten Division III Men\'s Invitational Volleyball Championships. The Eagles finished the season ranked first in the CSTV/AVCA Division III Top-15 poll, and reached the quarterfinals of the EIVA Tournament for the fifth-consecutive year. ###

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