SPRINGFIELD, OHIO- The Juniata women's volleyball team played the first of three matches at the Wittenberg National Invitational on Friday night. The Eagles handled Johns Hopkins 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-12).

Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) led Juniata in kills with 12. Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) tallied 29 assists. On the defensive side, the Eagles got contributions from two of their freshman with Katie Byrne (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) picking up 12 digs and Glen Brumm (Oro Valley, Ariz./Canyon Del Oro) adding 11 digs.

JC led 20-15 in the first set and pulled away with five straight points. Chelsea Scafuro (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) had two service aces while Kristin Collins (Freedom, Pa./Ambridge) got a kill and the Eagles scored on two Blue Jay attack errors.

Johns Hopkins led at one point in the second frame 12-9. The Eagles rattled off six straight points to go up 15-12. The two teams battled back and forth with the set sitting at 21-all. A 4-0 run by Juniata was enough to put the Blue Jays away as JC went ahead 2-0.

Juniata got out to a 10-2 lead in the third stanza. The Blue Jays could get no closer than eight points as the Eagles easily controlled the set and cruised to the victory.

The Eagles play two matches tomorrow afternoon. Juniata plays #17 St. Thomas (Minn.) at 12:30 followed by #4 Wittenberg at 5:30 p.m.