HUNTINGTON, Pa.— The East Coast trip started with defeat as Cal Lutheran men's volleyball lost to Juniata in straight sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-20, on Thursday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
The match was the first of four on the East Coast. The Kingsmen dropped to 8-11 after losing their fourth match in a row.
Patrick Rowe was the high Kingsmen on the day and tallied 13 kills, while Andrew Reina tallied nine and Justin Dietrich had eight. Dietrich had the best attacking percentage on the day and recorded .357.
Blake Zingerman and Jacob Cudiamat split time at the setter position and had the offense moving with 17 and 16 assists, respectively. Defensively, Rowe and Connor Hinthron led the team with nine digs and Nick Christy had two block assists.
It was a good hitting day for the Eagles as they improved throughout every set. Juniata hit .179 in the first set, .351 in the second and .371 in the third. The Kingsmen also get better, but started slow as they tallied .074, .171 and .250. As a team, CLU had .173 to JC's .310.
The first set started with fireworks for the Kingsmen as Christy and Reina combined for a block and CLU took a 4-0 lead. Juniata answered the call with a run of their own and tied the set at 6. The set was then tied eight times before the Eagles took a 180-17 lead. They were in front the rest of the way and claimed the first set 25-22.
Juniata used that momentum going into the second set and jumped out to a big lead at 16-7. CLU could not get back in the game as the Eagles won 25-19. With CLU up 12-10 in the third set, the Eagles used a 4-0 run and flipped the script. The teams exchanged points over the next two sets and Juniata remained up by two at 18-16. The Kingsmen cut it to one point- 21-20, but the Eagles ended the set on a 4-0 run and swept the match.
Cal Lutheran continues its East Coast trip on Friday. The Kingsmen take on Stevenson at 3 p.m. PST.
Box Score: JC 3, CLU 0
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
