ST. LOUIS, Mo.- The Juniata women's volleyball team lost to #1 Emory, 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 28-30), Friday evening at WU Field House on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
Juniata held a narrow 5-3 advantage early in the opening set prior to a 6-0 run by Emory that made it 5-9. Trailing 7-10, a kill from Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del. / Delaware Military Academy), a block by Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va. / Stone Bridge) and Moira Folan (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Oakland Catholic HS) followed by two Emory errors pulled the Eagles even at 10-10. Emory began to slowly pull away, with Juniata trailing by as many as five, 14-19. Juniata closed within two, 17-19, with a bad set and a kill from Emma Davis (East Berlin, Pa / Dover Area HS) helping narrow the deficit. But Juniata only scored one more time as Emory closed on a 6-1 run to take set one.
The second set saw JC trail early but manage to pull within two twice, first at 11-13 and later at 14-16 behind a kill from Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa. / Penn Manor), a block by her and Davis followed by an Emory error. But again, Emory pulled away late as they finished set two on a 9-3 surge to take a two-set lead.
The third set was even tighter than the previous two sets as neither team led by more than two points. As Juniata trailed late, 20-21, a kill and an ace from Marie Gonsar (New Castle, Pa. / Shenango H.S.) paired with a Davis block had the Eagles up by two, 23-21. The teams traded point with an Emory service error handing Juniata set point. Emory took the next two points to make it 24-24, but the Eagles reached set point three more times behind two kills from Taylor and another from Edwards. The national champs had an answer each time, managing to eventually tie it one final time at 28-28, with two errors ending the set 28-30 and the match.
Juniata will take on #3 Claremont Mudd Scripps, tomorrow at 3:30 EDT.