CENTER VALLEY, Pa.- The Juniata women's volleyball team dropped the opening set before taking the next three in convincing fashion to win, 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-14), at DeSales, Saturday morning inside of Billera Hall.
The first set saw the Eagles trail by as many as four early, but they managed to quickly pull even and a kill from Emma Davis (East Berlin, Pa / Dover Area HS) put them ahead, 21-20. The Bulldogs took the next two points prior to Aly Reardon (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West HS) putting down a kill to tie things at 22-22. But that was the final Eagle point as DeSales took the final three to win the opener 22-25. JC had its highest kill total in any single set with 17.
The second set was closer, but Juniata maintained a small lead 14-12. A block from Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa. / Penn Manor) and Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va. / Stone Bridge), an error from the home team, a kill from Edwards followed by two from Reardon and a solo block by her and Danhi pushed the Juniata advantage to eight at 20-12. The Eagles kept on going as they won easily, 25-15.
The third saw the Eagles only trail by a single point early and they gradually built their lead. leading by four, 16-12, kills from Danhi and Reardon followed by a Bulldog attack error along with a solo block from Danhi and another Reardon kill made it 21-12. Juniata didn't let up as they took set three 25-13.
In the fourth Juniata found themselves trailing 5-6 early but a seven-point surge put them in the lead for good. Another Reardon kill tied the score, two Bulldog errors bookended a kill from Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del. / Delaware Military Academy). DeSales called timeout but committed an attack error coming out of it, Reardon tallied an ace and Taylor notched a kill to put Juniata ahead 12-6. After DeSales broke up the run with a kill, the Eagles put together an 8-0 run this time that made it 20-8. Later, a Bulldog error gave the Eagles match point and Edwards ended it with a thunderous kill from the right side that caromed off the DeSales libero to end the match.
Makenna Hallager (Glenolden, Pa. / Merion Mercy Academy) tallied a career-high 26 digs while Reardon had her first career double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs.