Volleyball Ends Regular Season On a High Note

MOUNT UNION, OH- The #11 ranked women's volleyball team traveled to Alliance, OH to compete in the Mount Union Tri-Match on Saturday. The Eagles ended their regular season with two victories as they won 3-1 (25-13, 26-24, 20-25, 25-12) over Otterbein and scored a come from behind upset against the #7 Purple Raiders 3-2 (12-25, 27-25, 20-25, 25-17, 19-17). The wins improve Juniata's record to 25-7 overall.

Against the Cardinals, Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, PA/Upper Saint Clair) tallied 36 assists and 17 digs. Brittanie Tannenbaum (Highlands Ranch, CO/Highlands Ranch) led in kills with 10. Amelia Kepler (Kane, PA/Kane Area) and Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) added nine kills with Gearhart chipping in three assisted blocks. Chelsea Scafuro (Geneva, OH/Geneva) contributed 10 digs. Brittani Young (Columbia, PA/Hempfield Area) added 19 digs.

The Eagles led throughout the first set and easily came away with the early lead in the match. The Cardinals recovered and led 12-4 in the second set and looked to even everything up. JC slowly knocked off their deficit and took its first lead at 21-20. After Otterbein went up 24-22 and needed a point to win the game, Juniata scored four straight times to go up 2-0 in the match.

Otterbein took the third game and trailed 2-1. JC led by as much as 18-6 in the fourth set and cruised the rest of the way to claim victory.

Reynolds had a season and career-high 57 assists against the Purple Raiders. She also added 14 digs. Kepler's 15 kills were her second-best this season and she also had three assisted blocks. Gearhart had 13 kills while Megan Moroney (Mentor, OH/Mentor) tallied 11 kills. Bryce Arnold (Shippensburg, PA/Shippensburg) had 10 kills and a season-high 17 digs with Scafuro also notching a career-high with 15 digs. Young paced the team with 24 digs.

Trailing 1-0, the Purple Raiders led early in the second frame. The Eagles, however, took their first lead on a Mount Union attack error. Juniata led late 24-22 but the Purple Raiders scored three straight points to go ahead 25-24 and looked to take a 2-0 advantage. JC recovered to score the last three points on two kills and a Mount Union attack error to win the set and tie the match at 1-1.

Mount Union claimed the second game to go 2-1. The fourth game saw the Eagles hold a small lead for most of the frame and win by eight points. The Purple Raiders were up 17-16 in the fifth game but once again Juniata came out on top as two Moroney kills sandwiched a Purple Raider attack error and the Eagles won the game and the match.

Next up for Juniata are the Landmark Conference semifinals on Tuesday night at Memorial Gymnasium. The Eagles welcome the Moravian Greyhounds with start time scheduled for 7 p.m.