HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women's volleyball team stayed unbeaten in Landmark play with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) win over visiting Susquehanna, their 13th straight win of the year, Wednesday evening inside Memorial Gymnasium.
A kill and two solo blocks from Grace Erskine (Mooresville, N.C. / Community School of Davidson) along with an ace from Aly Reardon (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West HS) and a Brianne Carmody (Midlothian, Va. / James River) kill helped jump start Juniata in the opening set as they jumped on the River Hawks 5-0. JC didn't let up as they continued to expand their advantage to as many as 12 at 18-6, before Susquehanna clawed their way back within four at 21-17. JC closed on a 4-0 run as Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del. / Delaware Military Academy) put down a kill, Erskine and Carmody teamed up for a block, Erskine tallied another kill to push it to set point before her and Carmody ended it with another block 25-17.
The second set saw the River Hawks catapult ahead via an 10-1 run midway through the se to make it 13-18. Juniata slowly started to cut into the deficit, with a slick dump from Olivia Foley (Coldwater, Mich / Coldwater HS) making it 18-20. Sydney Ohl (Dallastown, Pa. / Dallastown Area) stepped to the service line for JC and the Eagles took the next four points to retake the lead on two SU attack errors paired with kills from Kennedy Christy (Saxonburg, Pa. / Knoch HS) and Taylor. The teams traded points to get to 23-22, but Taylor crushed a cross court kill to send JC to set point, and Erskine ended it with a kill in the middle of the back row, 25-22.
Erskine's kill wins set two for the Eagles #WingsUp #TakingFlight #D3VB #JCWVB #GoEagles pic.twitter.com/HkxWFNGmhE
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) October 7, 2021
The third saw SU holding a small lead in the middle part of the set, 15-17, before Taylor took over. She tallied four kills along with two River Hawk attack errors and a Ohl ace to make it 23-19. Following a Susquehanna kill, Carmody went off the block for a kill to reach match point. Two points later, Christy ended it with a kill to back left side, 25-21.
Erskine's kill wins set two for the Eagles #WingsUp #TakingFlight #D3VB #JCWVB #GoEagles pic.twitter.com/HkxWFNGmhE
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) October 7, 2021
Erskine had eight kills (.533) to go with three solo blocks and two block assists while Taylor had a team-high 13 kills (.289) and six digs. Christy chipped in with nine kills (.219) and 16 digs while Carmody added nine kills (.207) along with three block assists.
Juniata had 78 digs with five players reaching double-figures as McKenna Walker (York, Pa. / York Catholic) had 12, Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico / Colegio Bautista de Carolina HS) had 14, Foley had 11 to go with her 33 assists and Aly Reardon (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West HS) tacked on 13.
Juniata returns to action this Friday against Muskingum at 7:00.
