Tigers Suffer Tough Loss Against No. 15 Juniata

Springfield, OH – The Wittenberg University men's volleyball team continued their busy opening week of action, hosting their annual Jim Coleman Invitational. The Tigers have begun their 2020 campaign starting 2-0 on the season, with wins coming against Urbana University and St. Norbert College. The Tigers faced off against AVCA No. 15 Juniata College to open the Jim Coleman Invitational, falling to the Eagles 3-1 [24-26, 26-24, 25-18, 25-14]. Wittenberg started off strong collecting a .200 attack percentage through the first set on the evening, putting down 13 kills on 30 total attack attempts to start the match. Wittenberg was led by Collin Buelow with 11 kills, adding four blocks to his credit. Jackson Tyler tallied 10 kills on 30 attack attempts, along with a service ace for the Red and White. Dominic Melchiorre paced the Tigers with a .500 hitting percentage, putting down nine kills without a single attack error, adding three blocks to his credit.

Match Breakdown

The Tigers battled with the Eagles through the early going, trading points as the scoreboard flashed a tie score at 9-9, 11-11 and once again at 14-14. Wittenberg took their first lead of the match 17-16. The Red and White added to their advantage, taking a 22-19 lead off the Juniata error. The Tigers continued to fight, fending off a late Juniata attack heading down the stretch as the scoreboard flashed a tie once again at 24-24. Wittenberg sealed the first set victory off the kill from Tyler followed by a big play upfront from James Trowbridge and Buelow. The Tigers would keep the fight going into the second set, battling back and forth with the Eagles, taking a 16-14 lead midway through the second set. The two sides continued to trade points, as the score would tie back up at 20-20 and again at 24-24 before Juniata put away the final two points. Wittenberg tallied a .250 hitting percentage in the second set, putting down 12 kills on 28 total attacks while holding Juniata to just a .194 attacking percentage. The Tiger offense slowed down the backstretch as the two sides traded punches through the early going of the third set, Wittenberg tallied six kills on 22 total attacks. Juniata took the final set 25-14, holding the Tiger attack to just five kills, forcing five errors on 24 total attack attempts.

UP NEXT

Wittenberg will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 for day two of the Jim Coleman Invitational, taking on another AVCA Top 15 opponent No. 7 Southern Virginia University at 10:00 AM. The Tigers return to the hardwood at 2:00 PM closing out the invitational against the Augustana College Vikings.