ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Elizabethtown College men's volleyball team took the first set from No. 9 Juniata, but could not keep the momentum going as the Blue Jays fell to the Eagles, 3-1, in Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) action Tuesday night.
 
With the loss, Elizabethtown fell to 6-6 on the season and 0-3 in the league, while Juniata improves to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the CVC.
 
Freshman Steven Swain led the Blue Jays hitting .381 with 11 kills. Senior Nick Baxter finished with 13 kills and freshman Dan Barckholtz registered 31 assists and nine digs. Freshman Tony Camillo tallied four total blocks (1 BS, 3 BA) and junior Joey Nelson had a team-high 12 digs.
 
Senior Michael Young dished a game-high 41 assists to go along with eight digs for the Eagles. Sophomore Nick Duffy complimented Young hitting .450 with 12 digs.
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ELIZABETHTOWN 1, No. 9 JUNIATA 3 (25-17, 11-25, 18-25, 16-25)

• SET ONE: Holding a one point lead (7-6), Elizabethtown went on a 9-2 run capped off by a kill from Baxter for the 16-8 advantage. The Blue Jays closed within six twice at 22-16 and 23-17 before Elizabethtown closed out the opening set with the final two points thanks to Baxter who tallied a kill and then teamed up with freshman Cheston Jacobs for a block to end the set with an exclamation and take the opener, 25-17.
• SET TWO: The Eagles responded in the second set, jumping out to a 16-5 lead in the second. The Blue Jays would not recover from Juniata's hot start as they evened up the match one with the 25-11 win.
• SET THREE: Down one early in the third, the Blue Jays evened things up at nine after an attack error from senior Sean Cavanagh. Juniata responded with three straight points to move ahead 12-9. Elizabethtown rallied to cut the deficit to one after a kill from Baxter made the score 16-15. The Eagles, however, closed out the third on a 9-3 run to take the set, 25-18.
• SET FOUR: The Blue Jays came out firing in the fourth, running out to a 7-2 lead after an ace by junior Steven Schreffler. Juniata regrouped and used a 7-1 rally to move to the front 9-8. The Eagles continued to press, using a 9-2 run to stretch its advantage to eight (18-10). Elizabethtown closed back within six at 21-15 after a kill from freshman Blake Hildebrand, but Juniata wrapped up the 3-1 victory, scoring four of the final five points to take the fourth, 25-16.

 

• NEXT MATCH
  Elizabethtown hits the road this weekend, traveling to Rosemont, Pa. for a tri with King's and Rosemont. The Blue Jays open the weekend at 2 p.m. against the Monarchs followed by its second match of the day at 4 p.m. against the Ravens.