HOLLAND, MI- In the rematch from last year's national championship for NCAA Division III women's volleyball on Friday night, #1 Juniata defeated #2 Hope College 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20) in four hard-fought sets.

Both teams came into the matchup undefeated and ranked one/two in the American Volleyball Coaches Association coaches poll. With Hope at 7-0 and the Eagles at 5-0, one team had to suffer their first loss of the season.

After three close sets in last year's national championship, the Eagles knew it would be a test. Hope proved their worth in the first winning it 22-25. The Flying Dutch had taken a 4-7 lead early before the Eagles regained the lead 8-7. The teams traded points for a majority of the set until Hope pulled away at the end winning seven out of the last 11 points. This was the second set the Eagles had dropped all season, and the first time the Eagles lost an opening set this year. 

In set two, the Eagles responded strong, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Hope had seemed to bring it back at 8-6, but then the Eagles took off on a 10-3 run that was capped by kills from Lily Podolan and Kennedy Christy. The set would end 25-17 on a Podolan kill.

Juniata was down 7-11 in the third set before winning eight out of the next ten points to lead 15-13. Podolan, Christy and Mackenzie Coley found key kills down the stretch of set three to give them the 25-20 edge heading into set four.

Set four was close all the way. At 6-6, the teams traded every single point until the score reached 12-12. Both teams were then able to win a couple of points in a row but neither team separated themselves on the scoreboard. At 17-17, the Eagles won four out of the next five points to establish a 21-18 cushion. The Eagles would hold on to win set four by the same margin as set three, 25-20.

Christy led the match with 20 kills and a remarkable .362 kill percentage while Olivia Foley totaled 46 assists. Podolan and Coley each added 11 and 12 kills, respectively.

The team will stay in Michigan and revisit Hope College tomorrow to wrap up the Hope Invitational in a doubleheader. They will first face off against #6 Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 11:30 a.m., and then against Otterbein University at 2:00 p.m.