HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Randolph-Macon Men's Volleyball earned a set from Juniata, but the Eagles bested the Yellow Jackets in Continental Volleyball Conference action on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

Score: Juniata 3, Randolph-Macon 1 (25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 25-13)

Location/Venue: Huntingdon, Pa./Memorial Gymnasium

Records: Juniata (6-3, 2-0 CVC), Randolph-Macon (3-8, 1-1 CVC)

How It Happened

• The Yellow Jackets fought the Eagles to a few ties early in the frame. The teams squared up a each point from 6-13, save for a two-point lead that Juniata got at point eight. Only after the series of ties did Juniata pull ahead with a 4-1 run. Another short 3-0 run helped put JC ahead by five, allowing the Eagles to claim victory when the Yellow Jackets never could put together more than a single point in a row. JC won 25-21.
• Randolph-Macon held the early advantage in the second set. R-MC took a 9-5 lead after a pair of kills by senior Lee Olenyik (Mechanicsville, Va. / Hanover) and one by freshman Daniel Nguyen (Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen). But the Eagles powered back with a 5-2 run and eventually tied the set at 13-13. R-MC again edged in front but Juniata lurked behind and was able to come from behind to tie the set again. After two more ties, the Eagles used a 4-0 run to get in front 21-18. Randolph-Macon played the comeback card and tied the set at 21-21, but could only score once more as the Eagles won the set 25-22.
• The Yellow Jackets unleashed their fury in the third set. Juniata got three of the first four points, but Randolph-Macon pushed back with six straight and eight of ten to take a 10-5 lead. Juniata would not go away easily however, as the Eagles tied the set at 11-11 and 12-12. A pair of attack errors by the Eagles kickstarted a run by Randolph-Macon though. Sophomore Scotty Carter (Virginia Beach, Va. / Frank W. Cox) landed a kill to give R-MC the three-point lead and the Yellow Jackets finished on an 8-3 run while never allowing the Eagles to score consecutively as R-MC won 25-18. In the opening sequence, Carter got three key kills and sophomore Dayne Iverson (Pasco, Wash. / Chiawana) landed two service aces.
• The teams held everything much closer in the fourth set. Juniata got the first significant lead of the set with a 3-0 run to go ahead 7-4. R-MC would later tie thrice to bring the game to a 10-10 score. But Juniata caught a deep run, scoring nine straight, which was enough to put the set out of reach for the Yellow Jackets as Juniata won the set and the match 25-13.

Inside The Numbers

• Freshman Kolby Gibson (Bumpass, Va. / Louisa) led the team with 11 kills. Olenyik and Carter each added nine.
• Freshman James Manning (Glen Allen, Va. / Glen Allen) had 36 assists and added eight digs. Gibson led the team for digs with nine.
• Carter had a team-high six blocks, including a solo block. Iverson and sophomore Lenny Sampson, Jr. (Chesapeake, Va. / Indian River) each had four.
• In addition to Iverson's two aces, Gibson landed two as well.

Up Next

The Yellow Jackets will face CVC foes Rutgers-Newark and Kean next weekend, both at home. The Yellow Jackets face the Scarlet Raiders at 7:00 PM on Friday night and the Cougars on Saturday morning at 11:00 AM.