Washington, D.C – The Juniata women's volleyball team swept the Catholic Cardinals 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-22) Saturday afternoon on Franny Murray Court.
The Eagles dominated the first set, pulling away from the Cardinals at 5-4 with two Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del./Delaware Military Academy) kills, a kill by Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) and several Catholic attack errors. A Catholic timeout rejuvenated the Cardinals, but they were unable to get closer than three for the remainder of the set. Kills from Edwards, Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge), and Marie Gonsar (New Castle, Pa./Shenango HS) made it 23-16, and Juniata took the set after a service and attack error from Catholic.
The second set saw a much closer battle between the two teams, the Cardinals taking a brief lead at 4-6. The Eagles fought back, Danhi's kill tying things up at 7-7, and both sides continued to trade points back and forth. With the score at 15-15, a Catholic attack error gave JC a one-point advantage and a Taylor kill and Alyssa Tavera's (Whittier, Calif./La Salle HS) service ace put the Eagles up 18-15. The Cardinals caught back up at 19-19 after taking three straight points but kills from Edwards and Danhi alongside several attack errors on Catholic gave the Eagles set point. A Danhi service ace gave JC the victory at 25-20.
Catholic took the first point of the third and final set, but Edwards and Tavera's kills gave Juniata back the advantage. The two teams exchanged points throughout with the Cardinals taking another brief lead at 6-7. An Edwards kill tied things back up at 8-8, and the Eagles continued to soar forward to gain back the advantage. Kills from Gonsar, Moira Folan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic HS), Taylor, and Edwards made it 16-13 before five straight points from Catholic got the Cardinals within one at 20-19. With the teams tied at 22-22, a Marybeth Weihbrecht (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) kill and Catholic attack error gave JC set point. Another Weihbrecht kill ended the match 25-22.