HUNTINGDON, Pa. – It was a battle between Eagles Friday night in the Wid Guisler Invitational as host No. 21 Juniata fell to No. 6 Emory in straight sets, 3-0 (31-29, 25-23, 25-14). The loss ended a three-match win streak for Juniata (19-9) while the Emory Eagles (25-4) picked up their third straight win.
"We did some very good things early in that match," said Juniata Head Coach Heather Pavlik. "I think that we get a little impatient and we want to win whole games with single swings, but overall I think it was a pretty good effort."
Senior Kelsey Fuller (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) made the most of her senior night, finishing with a double-double. She had 14 digs and a team-high 10 kills in her last regular season Friday night start. Junior Sarah McCarthy (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) led the team in assists with 20 and sophomore Brittani Young (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield) finished with a match-high 15 digs.
Juniata led by as many as two points multiple times in the first set. The Eagles earned their first of three set points by taking advantage of two Emory errors. But Emory fought back to tie the game at 24-all. There were five ties in the final points of the game before a kill by sophomore Amelia Kepler (Kane, Pa./Kane Area) tied it for final time at 29-29. Breanah Bourque then put Emory on its final set point and a wide attack by Kepler ended the high energy game at 31-29.
Juniata put up its best offensive pressure of the night in its 25-23 game two loss with 15 kills, but ran out of steam down the stretch, dropping game three 25-19.
As the lone senior on the Eagles roster this year, Fuller was recognized for her accomplishments before the match. The 5-11 hitter made it to two milestones in her career by picking up her 1,000th dig on Sept. 29 and then exactly two weeks later, earning her 1,000th career kill. To-date, she has 96 service aces, 114 assists, 1,014 kills and 1,137 digs.
"I'd love to keep her in a Juniata uniform for another four [years]," said Pavlik. "But unfortunately, you get them for four years and then they move on. But I'm absolutely glad to have her here for a few more weeks."
The Eagles continue play tomorrow morning, Oct. 20, against Heidelberg University at 11 a.m. and then get an extended break before facing No. 23 Eastern University at 5 p.m. Heidelberg took Eastern to four games today before falling 3-1 in the opening match. Juniata has won its last two meetings with Heidelberg, but lost its last match of the season last year to Eastern 3-1 in the NCAA Regional Final.
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