BETHLEHEM, Pa.- The #1 Juniata women's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on the road at the University of Scranton, as they toppled the Royals 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-18) in Landmark Conference play and bested Stevens Institute of Technology 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19), Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center.
In the match against Scranton, Mackenzie Coley led the way with 13 kills (.444), three aces, a dig, two solo blocks, and a block assist. Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez contributed 14 digs, two assists, and two aces, while Courtney Williams tallied seven kills, a dig, three solo blocks, and two block assists.
In the second match of the day, early in set one at 3-3, the Eagles ran out eight of the next 10 of the next 12 points to open up a 14-5 lead that they nursed the rest of the way. An Olivia Foley dump ended set one, 25-16.
The Ducks jumped out to a 3-8 lead early in the second before several errors, two Lily Podolan kills, another from Williams, and a block by Sophia Repholz and Audrey Muth tied things at 10. The teams traded points from there, with Stevens using a late four-point surge to lead 18-23. Kills from Podolan and Ava Gummer and a Stevens error brought JC within two, 21-23, but they got no closer as the Eagles dropped set two, 22-25, the first set they dropped since the John Carroll match back on September 23rd.
The second set was tight most of the way, with the Ducks hanging around down three late, 17-14. Kills from Muth and Rousset Hernandez pushed the lead to five; the Ducks got one back before Coley dropped two straight kills to make it 22-15. A service error momentarily stopped the Eagle run, but JC took the final three points to take set three, 25-16.
Juniata trailed early again in the fourth, 9-12, before again capitalizing on several Duck errors, a kill and ace from Coley, and a block by Williams and Muth to retake the lead at 15-12. It was even the rest of the way as the Eagles kept the Ducks at bay the rest of the way to win the match, 25-19.
The Eagles got another dominant display from their middles as Coley tallied 18 kills (.342) to go with an ace, a solo block, and a block assist. Williams had ten kills (.471) to go with two block assists. Foley totaled 44 assists, four kills, an ace, nine digs, and a block assist.
The Eagles return home to play Goucher this Friday at 7:00.
