HUNTINDGON, Pa.- Juniata women's volleyball hosted the 24th annual ASICS Tournament on Friday and hosted Christopher Newport in the second of two matches on the evening. The Eagles came back in take the first set and withstood a resilient Captains squad to win 3-1. The win knocks CNU from the ranks of the unbeaten with its record now standing at 4-1 while JC improves to 5-0.
Leading the offense was Megan Moroney (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) who had 10 kills and hit .409 on the night. She also contributed on the defensive end with five assisted blocks. Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) added 33 assists, 10 digs, and four assisted blocks. Katie Byrne (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) put up 18 digs with Korin Koehler (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) adding 10.
The first set saw the Eagles lead 6-3 until the Captains went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 10-7. JC would tie the match at 13-13 but CNU would go ahead with leads of 16-13 and 19-15. Juniata closed out the frame on a 10-4 run that ended with a kill from Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim).
CNU came out strong in the second frame as it led 11-6 and then 15-7. The Captains maintained a steady lead throughout as it evened the match with a 26-16 win.
The third set was evenly matched early on with both teams trading points. Christopher Newport's last lead occurred at 12-11 as the Eagles broke away to go up 20-14 and edged out the Captains 5-3 down the stretch to go up 2-1 in the match.
The Eagles raced out to 4-0 lead in the fourth stanza. CNU closed the game and led at one point 9-7 but Juniata pulled away and led the rest of the way at it won 25-20.
JC starts the second day of competition at noon on Saturday against Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles then face #8 Wittenberg to close the day at 6:00 p.m.