OWINGS MILLS, Md. --  Freshman Tim Flanagan posted a career-high 18 kills as the No. 14 Stevenson men's volleyball team (12-6, 3-0 MAC) defeated No. 12 Juniata College (17-5, 3-2 CVC) in four sets Wednesday evening at Owings Mills Gymnsium. Set Scores were 17-15, 25-22, 25-19 and 25-22. 

Stevenson and Juniata began the match full of energy, trading points throughout the early stages of the first set. Aidan O'Brien picked up a kill to knot the frame at 6 a-piece before giving the Mustangs the advantage with a solo block. Aleks Melbardis also added a block to give the Mustangs an 8-10 lead.

Juniata was able to steal the lead and momentum with a 13-11 lead when a long rally reached its end on a block assist from the Eagles. 

Juniata leveraged Stevenson attack errors to take an 18-12 lead before the Mustangs began chipping away at the lead. O'Brien sent down an emphatic kill to slow the Juniata rally at the 23-16 mark, but Stevenson was unable to mount a comeback and dropped the opening frame 17-25.  

The second set also carried a lot of energy to begin the frame, however the momentum would swing in favor of the Mustangs. With only two tie scores and one lead change in the set, Stevenson was able to rally off four points early in the set to 6-4 lead on a block assist from O'Brien and Tim Flanagan. The Mustangs would not surrender the advantage. 

Stevenson leveraged their lead to 9-13 with block assists from Tim Flanagan and Elliot De La Torre. Juniata attempted to stall the Mustang momentum with a timeout but the 8-1 run continued through to the 19-10 mark, the largest margin of the evening for either team. Michael Dougherty added an ace during the spree while Flanagan recorded two kills. 

Stevenson continued applying the pressure through the rest of the set, not allowing Juniata to tack on more than two points in a row until the 24-19 point. The Eagles took advantage of Stevenson attack errors with a four-point rally to the 24-22 mark. Aleks Melbardis sent an attack off the Juniata blockers on the fifth set-point for the Mustangs to take the second frame 25-22.

The Mustang momentum carried into the third set with Stevenson jumping to an early advantage. However, Juniata would stay within shouting distance of Stevenson, eventually tying the frame at 11 a-piece. Three straight kills from Flanagan gave the Mustangs a 15-11 before the Eagles could stall the rally. 

Juniata continued chipping away at the Stevenson lead, tying the frame again at 18-18. The two teams traded the next two points for a 19-19 tie before a six-point rally surged the Mustangs to a 25-19 set win. Melbardis added a kill during the rally while Aidan O'Brien and Tim Flanagan added block assists. Stevenson continued their hot blocking hand, winning the third set on a block assist from Melbardis and Elliot De La Torre. 

The fourth set saw only one tie and one lead change as the Mustangs took an early advantaged and refused to yield their lead. The Mustangs used an early four-point rally to leverage an advantage they would not give up. Aidan O'Brien added a kill to extend the Stevenson advantage to 14-10. 

Stevenson would not allow the Eagles to string more than two points in the frame and added a three-point run of their own to a 22-18 advantage with another block from Flanagan and De La Torre.  

Numbers and Notes

• Tim Flanagan posted a career-high 18 kills.
• The Mustangs posted 22 blocks-assists, the third time this season they eclipsed the 20 mark.
• Justin Novoa dished out a career-high 42 assists.

What's Next

• Stevenson returns to MAC play with a tri-match against King's (PA) and Misericordia on March 12.