CLAREMONT, Ca.- It's hard to one-up a national championship, but the Juniata women's volleyball team did their best as they swept Hope 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) to put a bow on a 35-0 season to win their second straight NCAA National Championship and prove they are still the best team in the country.
Having won 62 straight matches, with 29 of the wins coming in straight sets, the Eagle's unblemished 35-0 record is the fourth perfect season in NCAA Division III women's volleyball history (2019, 1999, 1992). Juniata is in elite company as only one of three schools to have won four DIII women's volleyball national championships and is the first team to go wire to wire as the AVCA Coaches Poll number one since the 2006 national champion Juniata team. No match went five sets.
Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez, Olivia Foley, and Lily Podolan were named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team. Foley was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Mackenzie Coley started with a monstrous kill to put the Eagles on the board. The Flying Dutch slowly worked ahead, leading 5-8 and later 6-10. Courtney Williams smacked a ball through the floor, Kennedy Christy crushed a ball out of system for a kill, and Podolan went off the block to make it 9-10. The Eagles kept the pressure up, eventually tying things up at 12-12 and taking the lead back on a Mia Schubert ace. Another attack error from the Flying Dutch was followed by a solo block by Audrey Muth (a solo Muth, to those watching the live stream) to make it 15-13. Christy started cooking from the service line with two straight aces, and Hope called a timeout. Christy returned from the break refreshed and promptly dialed up another ace. Kills from Coley and Muth made it 20-13. Hope didn't go away and fought their way back to 21-21, forcing JC to call a timeout. From there, Muth bopped towards the back middle of the end line for a kill; Muth and Williams combined for a block before Williams joined with Podolan for another to give the Eagles set point, 24-21. Hope fought off one before Podolan went off the block to end set one, 25-22.
Set two was tight early, as the Flying Dutch pulled even on a service error, 9-9. Two kills from Podolan, one from Christy, and Hope attack error put the Eagle lead to four. Several points later, Muth went cross-court for a kill, and Christy continued her dominance from the service line to make it 17-11 Eagles. Juniata continued to surge, with Muth finding a spot in the back row for another kill and Podolan getting a kill out of system along with several Hope errors, making it 22-16. The Flying Dutch got a kill, committed a service error, and Christy stuffed a Hope attack at the net to give the JC set point. Two points later, the Saxonburg, Pa. senior went off the block to end set two, 25-19.
Juniata scored five straight points early (including two more Christy aces) early in set three, but the Flying Dutch again wouldn't fold easily, using a kill to eventually cut the lead to one, 13-12. Christy placed a ball perfectly right in front of the end line for a kill, Coley won a joust at the net, and Christy tacked on two more aces on either side of a Hope timeout to make it 17-12. Muth added another cross-court kill that flew past the diving Dutch defender to push the lead to six. Later, Podolan pushed the ball just over the block for a finesse kill, and Sydney Ohl got in on the ace action to bring Juniata within two points of winning the match. Hope took the next three to get within four, and the Eagles called timeout. An attack error gave Juniata championship point, and three points later, Coley crushed a ball off a Hope defender to give the Eagles their second straight National Championship.
Christy was unstoppable all match, doing it all as she had nine kills (.450) to go with eight aces, 12 digs, and a solo block. Her eight aces are tied for the fifth most in a single match and the second most in the rally-scoring era. Muth led all players with 11 kills to go with a dig, a solo block, and a block assist. Coley tallied nine kills, an ace, a dig, a solo block, and a block assist, while Podolan added nine kills, a dig, and a block assist. Rousset-Hernandez contributed 15 digs and six assists, while Foley had her 12th double-double of the season with 32 assists, 13 digs, a block assist, and a kill.
Juniata's run through the NCAA tournament saw them hit .282 while holding opponents to .106 and including an astounding 55 aces across the six matches. Christy led the way with 24, Schubert tallied 11, and Ohl had nine. Muth's 68 kills led the team, while Coley hit .345 with 59 kills across the six matches.
Head coach Heather Pavlik '95 added her second national championship as a head coach; she was the associate head coach for the 2004 and 2006 teams. Associate head coach Casey Dale '07 adds his third on the bench for the Eagles, with his first coming as a student assist in 2006.
Every year of this roster is filled with absurd statistics. After not playing as first-years due to COVID-19, the senior class and the junior class are 101-3 in their careers. They have dropped just 37 sets across three seasons and have not lost inside Memorial Gymnasium (50-0. The sophomore class has ended every year of their careers with a national championship, while the first years have yet to experience losing a match.
35-0, back-to-back national champions, it has been a magical two years; having taken everyone's best shot this past year, Juniata women's volleyball again heads into the next nine months as the indisputable best team in the country.
N A T T Y C H A M P S
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) December 3, 2023
�� Aiden Duran #WingsUp #GoEagles #TakingFlight pic.twitter.com/CQSywuMaI5
