HUNTINGDON, Pa.- In front of a noisy and packed crowd at Memorial Gymnasium, the Juniata women's volleyball team hosted Susquehanna for the Landmark Conference Championship on Saturday night. Unlike last year's match that went to five sets, the Eagles took the River Hawks in three with scores of 25-18, 25-16, 25-22.
It is the Eagles 10th Landmark title and their 36th overall. Juniata also clinches an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) led JC with 14 kills and hit .520 on the night to claim Most Valuable Player honors for the third straight year. She also had three digs and three solo blocks. Overall in two matches, Gearhart hit .438 with 25 kills, four digs, and seven total blocks.
"I thought overall we blocked very well," said head coach Heather Pavlik. "We had some good quality touches that slowed down a little bit for our defenders. I was pleased with the blocking job we did."
The River Hawks led in the first set 6-3 but the Eagles rode a 10-2 run and went up 13-8. The JC lead was as much as 24-15 on its its wat to the 25-18 win.
The Eagles scored the first three points in set two and got out to as much as a 12-6 lead. Susquehanna as able to get to 15-12 but a 10-4 Juniata run gave JC the set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Juniata had a big 10-4 advantage in third set and looked to run away with it. With the score standing at 23-18, Susquehanna picked up four straight points with a kill from Hannah Lyons and three errors by the Eagles. JC's lead stood at 23-22 but a service error on the River Hawks and a kill from Mar-Jana Phillips (Carson, Calif./Rolling Hills Prep) lifted the Eagles to the victory.
Phillips added 11 kills for Juniata. Megan Moroney (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) also had 11 kills while hitting .556. Suzanne Gloekler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) chipped in eight kills and Megan Conger (Rockville, Md./Our Lady Of Good Counsel) tacked on six kills. Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) tallied 45 assists and two service aces. Defensively, Katie Byrne (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) totaled 20 assists with Shaina Robinett (York, Pa./PA Leadership Charter School) piled up 11 digs.
"Defensively, we did a much better job of being balanced when the ball was hit," noted Pavlik. "The person I think who had the biggest improvement was Shaina Robinett. She dug some really well hit balls especially early."
Juniata will learn where it will be when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Monday. The selection show starts at 12:30 p.m.
