Women’s Volleyball Completes Weekend Sweep at Transylvania

LEXINGTON, KY- The #10 Juniata women’s volleyball team wrapped up competition at the Transylvania Invitational on Saturday. The Eagles defeated Berry College 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-17) and #25 Millikin 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17).

Against the Vikings, Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, PA/Upper Saint Clair) had all 46 assists for the Eagles. Brittani Young (Columbia, PA/Hempfield Area) had 13 digs, Christine Irwin (State College, PA/State College) totaled 11, Gabrielle Ooyama (Fairport, NY/Fairport) chipped in eight and Christine Sumner (Dublin, OH/Bishop Watterson) recorded six digs. Mar-Jana Phillips (Carson, CA/Rolling Hills Prep) led with 12 kills, Amelia Kepler (Kane, PA/Kane Area) had 11, Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) tallied 10, and Sumner had eight.

The Eagles had another tough battle with Millkin. After the first set win, the Big Blue took the second game before the Eagles recovered to claim the final two games for the win. Reynolds contributed 33 assists. Young had 15 digs and Irwin tallied 10. Gearhart and Kepler both had four assisted blocks. Phillips racked up 16 kills, and Gearhart had nine kills while Kepler had seven.

“We fought hard, were resilient, kept our composure, and were able to finish very well,” said head coach Heather Pavlik. “Phillips had a tremendous weekend against good competition as did Kepler.”

The 7-0 Eagles travel to Springfield, OH next weekend to compete in the Wittenberg Boarder Battle. Juniata faces Ohio Northern on Friday at 6 p.m. The Polar Bears are receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll. Saturday starts with #4 Cal-Lutheran at 10 a.m. and wraps up with the #5 host Tigers at 2 p.m.