HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Senior middle Amanda Schmidt (Boswell, Pa./North Star) and junior pin hitter Kelsey Fuller (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) each logged eight kills, leading Juniata College women's volleyball to a 3-0 win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Friday night at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.
Set scores for Juniata were 25-13, 25-22, and 25-19.
Fuller served up five aces and had a solo block, and finished the night with a match-high 14.0 points. Freshman middle Amelia Kepler (Kane, Pa./Kane) and sophomore middle Courtney Lydick (McKean, Pa./General McLane) each tacked on six kills.
Senior libero Libby Morrison (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School) sprawled for 17 digs and served one ace. Fuller aided the Juniata cause defensively by turning up 10 digs.
Sophomore setter Courtney Greenberg (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) ran an Eagle offense that hit .161 for the match, and hit .297 in the opening set. Juniata (20-6) put away 35 kills in the match, 14 of which came in set one.
Pin hitter Carly Kowalski and middle Morgan Cerveny led IUP with six kills each, while middle Brooke Bailey had five terminations. The Crimson Hawks (9-17) dominated play at the net, recording 10.0 team blocks to Juniata 3.0. Middle Danielle Ostendorf finished with seven total blocks, while Carissa Miara and Kowalski had three each.
IUP libero Stacey Root turned up 18 digs for the Crimson Hawks. Miara had 21 assists, and led IUP to a .090 hitting percentage for the match.
Juniata (20-6), ranked 12th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III poll, looked like it might dominate the match based on its play in set one, as the Eagles jumped out to a 8-0 lead over Crimson Hawks off Fuller's serve – including four aces out of the eight points, and three in a row during one stretch. The Eagles eventually stretched their lead to 11-1 before the Crimson Hawks mounted a serious charge, and eventually cut the margin to seven points at 20-13.
A side out kill by Schmidt returned service to Juniata, and Schmidt buried kills on three of the next four points off the serve of Rachelle Wiegand (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) to take the set.
IUP held the lead midway through set two, 18-15, following a Schmidt attack error and a Miara kill for the Crimson Hawks. Juniata regained serve on an attack error by IUP's Kowalski, and the Eagles rattled off the next four points to grab a 21-18 lead. IUP took the next three points to tie up the set, including an Ostendorf kill and a double-block by Miara and Beth Sova, but Juniata took a sideout point off an Ostendorf attack error to take a 22-21 lead.
A kill by Greenberg two plays later got Juniata onto set point, and a Wiegand kill two plays after that gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead on sets.
Juniata began set three the same way it began set one, taking a 4-0 lead over IUP. A six-point run by the Eagles later in the set eventually put Juniata on top, 20-11, but a Kepler attack error opened the door for the Crimson Hawks. Kowalski logged back-to-back kills to cut Juniata's lead down to 20-14, and the Eagles answered by taking four of the next five points to get to match point.
Four points later, Wiegand put away the win with a kill off a Greenberg set.
Juniata closes out its 2011 regular season home slate on Saturday, Oct. 22, when it hosts Carnegie Mellon University at 3:00 p.m. at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.
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