Royals Drop Tight CVC Matchup to Juniata

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The EMU men’s volleyball team faced a tall order on Saturday, squaring off with the number 10 team in the country, Juniata. 

The Royals kept the match close but, ultimately, it was the Eagles that picked up the 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20) win. EMU falls to 2-11, 1-3 CVC while Juniata improves to 17-4, 2-2 CVC. 

Highlights

• Juniata jumped out to a 9-4 lead over EMU before the Royals went on a 5-1 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Tyler Oaks and aces from Nate McGhee and Ben Childers to pull within one. The teams traded points until, with the Eagles up 14-12, they went on an 8-2 tilt to go ahead 22-14. EMU picked up three straight points, including a block from Christopher Webster and Jacob Durren, but Juniata picked up a kill to take set one. 
• Set two started out as a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to pull out to much of a lead. Midway through, an Eagle service error followed by a McGhee ace pulled EMU to 12-13 before Juniata responded with a 6-1 run that pushed their lead to six. An Oaks kill and a service error pulled EMU back to within four and the team traded the next two points. Juniata picked up four of the next five and, after an error gave the Royals another point and made the score 24-18 Eagles, JC picked up a kill to take a 2-0 lead. 
• EMU started out ahead in the third set, picking up kills from Childers and a Webster ace to pull out 3-0. They kept a close lead to 10 points, leading 6-4, but Juniata answered with an 8-1 run, forcing an EMU timeout and giving the Eagles a 12-7 lead. Back-to-back errors brought the Royals back within two but JC outscored the Royals 4-2 over the next six to take a 16-11 lead. Kills from Durren and Oaks helped EMU claw back in until the Eagles went on a 7-2 run to go ahead 23-15. EMU rallied for five straight, including kills from McGhee and Durren, to put pressure on the Eagles but a service error ended the run and gave Juniata the 3-0 win. 
• Webster, McGhee, Childers and Durren all had five kills for the Royals and Durren added four blocks. Wyatt Bollinger led the way with 21 assists for EMU. 

What’s Next

EMU will have time to regroup before heading south to take on nationally-ranked Southern Virginia on March 16. First serve is scheduled for 5 pm. 

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