GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's volleyball team fell (3-0) to the tenth-ranked Eagles of Juniata College on Tuesday night at Beeghly Gymnasium.
 
The Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) match was all in favor of the Eagles in the first set as they took the set 25-16.
 
Thiel bounced back in the second set taking a 5-4 lead in the early going and continued to trade the lead until Juniata went on a 4-0 run to make it 15-11. The Eagles would not relinquish their lead despite the Tomcats taking three late points and to pull within four. Juniata took the set 25-21.
 
In the deciding third set, Thiel came out strong going on a five-point run to jump on the Eagles 9-5 before a Juniata timeout. The Eagles regained their composure after the timeout taking seven of the next eight points to make it 12-11 in favor of the Eagles.
 
Back to back scores from the Tomcats put Thiel back in control but a five-point run by the Eagles put Juniata out in front 17-13. Thiel battled to tie the set at 22 all but it proved not be enough to extend the match as Juniata took the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.    
 
Leaders for the Tomcats included Stephen Borgen (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) with a team-high 20 assists and Dan Zajac (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge) as well as Mark Kopinski (Allison Park, Pa./Deer Lakes) who each collected a game-high four blocks.
 
Mitchell Patterson (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) added a team-high eight kills as well as five digs on the night.
 
With the result, Thiel falls to 4-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
 
Up next for the Tomcats is a road CVC matchup against Rutgers-Newark on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Newark, New Jersey.