LEXINGTON, KY – The Juniata women's volleyball team (11-0) received 54 first place votes and moved to No.1 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association(AVCA) Poll. This is the first time Juniata has been ranked No.1 since Oct. 19, 2010 when they went on to the NCAA Semifinals.
The Eagles began the season ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll. After defeating St. Vincent, Johns Hopkins, St. Thomas (MN) and Wittenberg all on the road in week one, Juniata moved to No. 5. Week one was highlighted by the impressive performance against Wittenberg. The Eagles were down by two sets against the Tigers before battling back on Wittenberg's home court to win 3-2. St. Thomas (MN) was ranked No. 17 and Wittenberg was ranked No. 4 at the time.
Juniata continued their success into week two. The Eagles hosted the 23rd annual ASICS Invitational and faced off against Stevens, Mount Union, Mary Washington and Clarkson. Mount Union was ranked No.18 and Clarkson was ranked No. 16. The Eagles defeated Stevens and Mount Union 3-0 before defeating Mary Washington and Clarkson 3-1 the next day.
Week three arrived and the AVCA ranked Juniata No. 4. This time the Eagles were heading to Christopher Newport for the CNU Invitational. They were to face CNU (ranked No. 3 at the time), Averett and Bethany (WV). They took a 2-0 lead but CNU would find a way to tie the match and force a fourth set. In 2014, the match between Juniata and CNU followed the same path. The Captains took the victory from Juniata in Memorial Gym. This time it would be the Eagles to prevail with a 3-2 win. Averett and Bethany (WV) were defeated 3-1 the following day.
With tough competition happening across Division III last weekend, several top 10 teams suffered losses. Juniata remains one of just seven DIII teams and one of twenty-seven NCAA teams to still be undefeated.
