(Posted March 20, 2010)

CHICAGO -- Juniata College men's volleyball put down a season-low 22 kills to Loyola University-Chicago's 48, and dropped a 3-0 decision to the Ramblers on Saturday night at Loyola's Alumni Gym. Set scores for Loyola were 30-16, 30-22, 30-18.

Juniata's 22 kills were the fewest for the Eagles since at least the 2007 season. Outside hitter Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) led Juniata with seven kills on 23 swings, but recorded five errors for a .087 attack percentage. Fellow outside hitter Chris Vrooman (Baden, Pa./Ambridge Area) had six kills to aid the Eagle cause on 19 attacks, and also tallied four errors to finish with a .015 hitting percentage.

Among the Juniata middles, senior Evan Halteman (Perkiomenville, Pa./Christopher Dock) tallied three kills and a .286 attack clip, while sophomore Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) had three kills on eight attempts to post a team-high .375 hitting percentage. Wolff also had a hand on three total blocks, matching Loyola's team total for the night.

Setter Mike Kraft (York, Pa./Eastern York) logged 20 assists while setting a Juniata offense that hit .107 for the match. Senior libero Anthony Damiano (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) may have turned in the night's strongest performance, sprawling for eight of Juniata's 22 digs. Vrooman and Kraft each had five digs.

Loyola (13-3) was led by Mike Bunting with 14 kills on 23 swings with only two errors, with Domenic Dewaele tacking on 13 kills and hitting .450 for the match. Mike Morice finished with nine kills and hit .500 on the night. Bunting, Dewaele and Morice led a Loyola squad that hit .404 as a team, making the Ramblers just the third team this season to hit .400-or-better against the Eagles.

Loyola tallied 36 digs against Juniata, with Mike Hutz and Tommy Becker leading the effort with 14 and 10 digs respectively.

Juniata's best chance to steal a set off Loyola was in the opening frame, as the Eagles held a lead at 7-6. Kills by Bunting and Dewaele vaulted the Ramblers into an 8-7 lead, and four sideout points later the Loyola lead stood at 10-9. The Ramblers tacked on three more points, including a pair of service aces by Mike Morice.

Loyola added to its lead with a five-point run off a 18-13 lead, with three of the Rambler points coming off Juniata errors. That advanced the Loyola lead to 23-13, and the Ramblers successfully held their lead the rest of the way.

Juniata (5-10) returns home on Tuesday, March 23, when it hosts Penn State University at 7:00 p.m. at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

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