Just five matches into its inaugural season, the Benedictine University men's volleyball program will face the top ranked team in the country. BenU is set to oppose Huntingdon, Pennsylvania's Juniata College on Friday, who occupies the top ranking in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Men's Volleyball poll. The game will take place at a neutral site: Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.
BenU will come into Friday's matchup with a 2-3 record. This past week, the Eagles played the first three home matches in program history, splitting a tri-match with Loras College and Milwaukee School of Engineering on Wednesday before falling to St. Xavier University on Friday.
Eric Tarnow had a nice week at the outside hitter position, tallying 33 kills. At setter,
Markus Riemer accumulated 106 assists and 32 digs in the three matches.
Friday: vs. Juniata (4-0), 6:00 p.m. at Dominican
Members of the Continental Volleyball Conference, the Eagles of Juniata College are traditionally one of the strongest teams in the nation. The Pennsylvania school has qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of the past two seasons and have put together three consecutive 20 win seasons. Last year, Juniata won a school record 29 matches and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament Championship, falling to Springfield College 3-0.
Juniata returns six student-athletes who played in last season's championship match, three of which were AVCA All-Americans. Outside hitter Paul Kuhn earned First Team All-American honors after tallying 235 kills last season, good for second on the team. A pair of middle blockers, Joe Bortak (First Team All-American) and Chad Albert (Second Team All-American), also earned the national honor, as both hit over .430 and combined for 409 kills.
This season, Juniata is off to a 4-0 start, winning all of its matches as the host of the Juniata College Invitational over the weekend. After taking on BenU on Friday, Juniata will face host Dominican at 8:00 p.m. to wrap up its trip to Illinois. Juniata will play at Carthage College on Saturday afternoon to take on a third Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League opponent.
