WASHINGTON, D.C.- Juniata women's volleyball made history again on Saturday winning two games out of two in a doubleheader against Catholic University and Mary Washington University. The first win got Juniata level with Concordia St. Paul for the second-longest winning streak in the history of collegiate women's volleyball at 75. They surpassed the Division II side from 2008-2010 with their second win of the day and 76th in a row. Penn State achieved the current all-time record of 109 from 2007-2010.
Juniata bossed the first matchup in a 3-0 sweep against the Cardinals at 12:00 p.m., their second Landmark Conference opponent this year.
Set one started even as the teams were tied four times before either team pulled ahead. At 7-7, it would be the Eagles who went on an 11-1 run in the next 12 points. At 18-8, the Eagles would only give up three more points in the set, ending it with five consecutive points won. Mia Schubert gave the Eagles the 25-11 win with a service ace on the final point.
The Eagles went on an 8-1 run to start set two, and would keep extending their lead much like set one. This time, the Cardinals began to fight back winning six points in a row down 18-7, but the deficit was too much for them to overcome. Schubert won set point with another service ace, this time giving the Eagles a 25-16 edge.
The final set was the closest of the three, and Catholic looked like they might take it up 3-7 early. Juniata had tied it up 8-8 and gotten their first lead of the set at 10-9, but Catholic regained a 14-11 lead winning five of the next six points. The Eagles responded well by winning the next four points in a row, but then Catholic won four points in a row. The game was on a seesaw. At 19-19, one team was going to have to push for the set win. The Eagles would be the team to do it, taking the final five points of the set after being down 20-21, winning it 25-21. Audrey Muth and Emily Sullivan each added two clutch kills in that five point run to give the Eagles the win. Muth got the kill on the final point.
In match one, Muth led in kills with eight, while Olivia Foley added 35 assists. Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez made 15 digs.
The second match of the day for the Eagles ended in another 3-0 sweep, this time in an out of conference matchup against Mary Washington University at 2:00 p.m.
The Eagles jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first set against Mary Washington. Their lead was reduced to five at 11-6, but the Eagles would go on an 8-1 run in the middle of the set to deny Mary Washington any opportunity to come back. They won the set 25-12, with the final point coming from a Mackenzie Coley kill.
Like set one, Juniata never trailed in set two. Mary Washington came within two points at 3-1 and at 7-5, but another 8-1 run in the middle of the set would give the Eagles an insurmountable lead. They came out of it up 18-8, and they would only give up four more points in the rest of the set. The scoreline was the same as set one, 25-12 with Juniata on top.
The final set was tightly contested. Mary Washington held a lead in the match for the first time, opening the set up 9-6 in the first 15 points. Juniata would regain their early lead and go up 10-9 before the game was knotted up at 10-10. At this point, the Eagles of Juniata would win nine out of the next 11 points and establish a 19-12 lead. The Eagles of Mary Washington came within four points at 21-17, but like Juniata had done in multiple other sets on the day, they won the last four points in a row to clinch the 25-17 set win and 3-0 match victory.
Coley led in kills this time for Juniata with 16, on a remarkable .536 kill percentage. Foley added 35 more assists in game two, and Rousset-Hernandez led with 20 digs.
The Eagles are now 2-0 in the Landmark and 14-0 overall this year. They will look to keep the win streak going as they head back into conference play at home at 7:00 p.m. next Friday against Elizabethtown in their annual Dig Pink Match.
