HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The No. 3 Juniata women's volleyball team opened play in the Juniata Invitational with a 3-1 over Stevens on Friday evening in a match where the Eagles posted a season-high ten blocks.  

The sides traded points to open the match before Juniata pulled out to an 8-3 advantage on a five-point streak. Juniata slowly built an advantage in the middle stages, led by four attacking errors from Stevens and kills from Lily Podolan and Mackenzie Coley to build a 15-6 advantage. Juniata reached set point at 24-10 before the Ducks got four back to make it 24-14. A kill from Podolan wrapped up the first set at 25-14. 

The Eagles had nine attacking errors in the second set, dropping the second 18-25. The teams traded points early, with the two sides level at 6-6, the last time the Eagles were level in the set. From there, the Ducks used two sets of four-point runs to draw a 15-22 advantage. 

Juniata was most efficient in attack in the third set, posting a .400 hitting percentage across 25 attacks. Kills from Podolan, Kennedy Christy, and Audrey Muth and a bad set from Stevens gave Juniata an early 4-1 lead. Two three-point runs early in the set got the Eagles to 11-5. Stevens got two back on a service error, and a kill before Juniata gained control of the set with an 8-point run for a 19-7 lead during a sequence where the Ducks committed three attacking errors, Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez tallied a service ace, and Podolan and Christ contributed kills. The set ended at 25-11 on a kill from Courtney Williams. 

Stevens opened the fourth set with four points unanswered before the Eagles drew three back on a Podolan kill, a bad set, and an attacking error. Juniata drew level at 5-5, 6-6, and 7-7 before going on a seven-point tear featuring three kills from Muth and a kill from Podolan. Juniata wrapped up the set, and the match on a Coley kill at 25-12. 

Coley sported a team-high .650 hitting percentage with 13 kills while also contributing defensively with one solo block and two block assists. Coley's .650-hitting percentage ties for the 10th-best figure in a single match in program history. Muth tallied 13 kills, two solo blocks, and two block assists in a strong day for the first-year student. Olivia Foley and Rousset-Hernandez led the team in digs with 17 and 13 apiece.  

The Eagles play a pair of matches on Saturday to round out the Juniata Invitational. They open the day against Mary Washington at 11:00 am and conclude the day at 6:30 against Messiah.