NEWPORT NEWS, Va.- The Juniata women's volleyball team had their season come to an end as they lost to #7 Trinity (Tex.), 3-0 (25-27, 21-25, 14-25), Saturday afternoon at the Freeman Center on the campus of Christopher Newport in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-9 lead early in the first set and it took a while but the Eagles managed to claw their way back. with the score at 12-17: a kill from Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa. / Penn Manor), another from Emma Davis (East Berlin, Pa / Dover Area HS), two straight aces from Edwards followed by back to back kills from Davis made it 18-17 Juniata. Juniata managed to pull ahead 22-19 following another Davis kill before the Tigers took the next four points to make it 22-23. Davis smashed another ball into the ground for a kill and Makenna Hallager (Glenolden, Pa. / Merion Mercy Academy) served up an ace to give the Eagles set point, but Trinity managed to take the next two to make it 24-25. A kill from Edwards tied the score, but the Tigers took the next two points to claim set one.
Set two saw Juniata build a small lead early, 11-8 before the teams traded points for a while, with two straight from the Tigers putting them up, 13-14. And Edwards kill tied the score again before Trinity rattled off another two points before committing an attack error to make it 155-16. The Tigers took the next four points to make it 20-15, and Juniata couldn't recover as the Tigers took set two, 21-25.
The third was all Trinity as the slowly just kept adding to their lead in the third, and with the score at 14-19, they closed the match on a 6-0 run to send Juniata home as they won, 25-14.
Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del. / Delaware Military Academy) was named to the all-tournament team for strong performance over the weekend.
Juniata closes the year at 23-9.