HUNTINGDON, Pa. (Jan. 18)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team opened their season at Juniata with a tri-match on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats fell in both matches, first to the University of Puerto Rico, followed by a defeat to Juniata, the fifth ranked program in the NCAA.
 
GAME 1- Univ. Puerto Rico 3, Saint Vincent 0
In the Bearcats season opener, SVC fell to the University of Puerto Rico by set scores of 25-22, 25-13, and 25-22.
 
Shawn McSwiggen had a solid match for the Bearcats totaling 11 kills. Freshman, Jackson Genicola totaled a match-high 22 assists in his first collegiate match. Rocco Marino added a match-high three blocks for SVC in the loss.
 
Saint Vincent trailed by around five points for the majority of the opening set of the day. Puerto Rico opened to a 13-8 lead and still held that five-point lead at 22-17. Saint Vincent went on to outscore Puerto Rico 5-3 over the remaining eight points in the set, but it wasn't enough as Puerto Rico took the opening set (25-22) and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
McSwiggen had four kills for Saint Vincent in that opening set.
 
Puerto Rico controlled for the entirety of the second set. The Bearcats quickly found themselves trailed 5-0, before Puerto Rico increased that lead to 19-8 and then 22-11, before winning their second consecutive set (25-13) to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
It was back-and-forth for the majority of the third set. The Bearcats opened up to a 14-10 lead in the final set, but Rio Piedras battled back to tie the set at 16-16, before taking a 20-17 lead. Puerto Rico went on to win the set (25-22) and the match 3-0.
 
GAME 2- Juniata 3, Saint Vincent 0
The Bearcats competed against the fifth ranked team in the country, the host, Juniata in the tri-match finale. The Eagles controlled for the entirety of the match. The Eagles won in straight sets by scores of 25-6, 25-14, and 25-14.
 
Zebadiah Wyant led the way for the Bearcats in their second match of the day as he recorded six kills. Brad Heinbaugh added five kills, while Genicola added four more digs for Saint Vincent in the match.
 
Juniata began to score early in the opening set as they opened up to a 14-3 lead. The Eagles never looked back, outscoring the Bearcats 11-3 over the remaining points to win the opening set (25-6), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Eagles controlled the second set as well. The Bearcats kept it close in the set early as they trailed just 13-11, but Juniata went on to outscore them 12-3 over the remained of the set to win the set (25-14), taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
It was much of the same in the third set. Juniata opened up to a slight 9-6 lead, before the teams went back-and-forth for a few points as the score was 15-12 in favor of the Eagles. Juniata closed it by outscoring SVC 10-2 over the remained of the set, to win the set (25-14) and hand the Bearcats the 3-0 defeat in the match.
 
The Bearcats will return to action next Saturday, January 25 with a tri-match at Elizabethtown. Saint Vincent will first take on Elizabethtown at 11 a.m., followed by Wilson at 1 p.m. next Saturday.