Washington, D.C.– The Juniata women's volleyball team wrapped up their regular season with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-18) win over Scranton, Saturday afternoon on Franny Murray Court. Juniata is again the number one overall seed in the Landmark Conference Championship.
The Eagles took an early 3-1 lead against the Royals in set one. Kills from Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor), Marybeth Weihbrecht (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Marie Gonsar (New Castle, Pa./Shenango HS)gave JC a 6-4 advantage. The Royals did not back down, taking a lead of their own at 10-7. The set continued to be a back and forth affair between the teams as neither could break away by more than two. Three Juniata points, including a Gonsar kill and Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) service ace, forced a Scranton timeout at 17-16, and both the Eagles and Royals continued to battle. Juniata earned an advantage at 24-23, but Scranton took the next two points to go up 24-25. An Edwards kill and Royals attack error put the Eagles up 26-25. Kills from Edwards and Weihbrecht sealed the Eagles' victory, 28-26.
JC took the first six points of the second set after kills from Danhi, Edwards, and Taylor and two Alyssa Tavera's (Whittier, Calif./La Salle HS) service aces. The Eagles kept their lead until a five-point run from the Royals tied things up at 16-16. Juniata took the next six points to regain ground at 21-16 with kills from Edwards, Taylor, and Gonsar. Scranton forced pressure on the Eagles at 22-21, but several errors on the Royals and a Danhi kill closed out the set, 25-21 Juniata.
The third set saw the Eagles take another early lead, 5-3. A Taylor kill and several Scranton errors saw JC take a 10-5 lead, and Juniata continued to push ahead with a five-point run to make it 16-9. The Royals were unable to regain ground, and a kill from Edwards gave the Eagles the 25-18 victory, closing out the match.
Juniata will host Scranton in the Landmark Semifinals, Wednesday at 7:00.