NEW CONCORD, Ohio- The #12 Juniata women's volleyball team took down host Muskingum University, 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 25-17) Friday evening inside the Anne C. Steele Center on day one of the Muskingum Invitational.  

The opening set was heavily contested as the teams traded the lead back and forth. The Muskies took a late one-point lead at 20-21, before two kills from Grace Erskine (Mooresville, N.C. / Community School of Davidson), one from Brianne Carmody (Midlothian, Va. / James River), and a Muskingum attack error gave JC the lead back and set point. Two points later, Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del. / Delaware Military Academy) ended the set with a kill of her own, 25-22.  

The second set again saw the Eagles trailing late in the set and put together a small run to get within one at 20-21, but this time the Muskies fended off the JC come back as they took set two, 21-25.  

The teams traded haymakers in the third set as the Muskies went on a 5-0 run before Juniata responded with a 7-0 run with Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico / Colegio Bautista de Carolina HS) on the service line for six of the seven points. JC nursed a small lead the rest of the way, holding a 17-14 lead midway through. Two kills from Mackenzie Coley (Norco, Calif. / Norco HS) caused Muskingum to call timeout, but to no avail. Olivia Foley (Coldwater, Mich / Coldwater HS) tallied a kill, Aly Reardon (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown West HS) added one of her own, followed by Kennedy Christy (Saxonburg, Pa. / Knoch HS), made it 22-14. The Eagles wound up taking the third set 25-15.  

The Eagles jumped on the Muskies to start the fourth with a 9-1 run and never looked back as they won the set 25-17 to take the match.  

Christy totaled 15 kills to go with her 16 digs and a service ace, while Taylor totaled 13 kills and six digs. Coley added eight kills on an efficient .333 paired with her one block assist, while Erskine tallied 10 kills while hitting .333 with a solo block. Rousset-Hernandez had 31 digs, four assists, and two service aces, while Foley had a season-high 49 assists to go with 19 digs and three kills. 

Juniata will play a pair of matches tomorrow, taking on Baldwin Wallace at 12:00 and Wittenberg at 4:00.