Eagles Prove Resilience, Take Down Mt. Union 3-0

HUNTINGDON, PA -  The No. 5 Juniata women's volleyball improved to 6-0 with a sweep of the No.18 Mount Union Raiders. The first two sets were dominated by the Eagles (25-14, 25-15) but the Raiders put up a fight in the third.

After a kill from Kyleigh Jackson put Mt. Union up 18-12, the Eagles called a timeout. 

They used the timeout to regroup and immediately began clawing their way back. Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, PA / Greencastle-Antrim) took the first kill after the break, followed by a kill from Mar-Jana Phillips (Carson, CA / Rolling Hills Prep). An attack error from Mt. Union gave Juniata another point and then Phillips got another kill to cut the deficit to two points. 

The Raiders were unable to put together a run at the end of the set, leading by no more than three points the remained of the match.

A service error by Katie Byrne (Annapolis, MD / Broadneck) set up a match point situation for Mt. Union. Byrne set up Phillips the next play and the Eagles made it a one-point game. Gearhart made the kill to tie the game. An attack error from the Raiders set up Juniata for the win and Kristin Collins (Freedom, PA / Ambridge) would secure the sweep with a kill that resulted in a block error from Mt. Union.

Juniata took set three 26-24. 

Head coach Heather Pavlik was pleased with how her team responded following the timeout when they were down 12-18. 

"When you're playing good teams, you have to play the whole way through," Pavlik said. "We had to remind them to execute. We were getting sloppy with our passing and ball control." 

Coming off that timeout, Phillips, Gearhart and Megan Moroney (Mentor, OH / Mentor) each recorded three kills. Phillips finished the game with 30 total attacks to lead Juniata. 

"MJ got a lot of out-of-system balls and made some great attacks that aren't necessarily going to be reflected in her hitting percentage," Pavlik said. "She also had solid blocks today." 

Another Eagle making a statement is Byrne. She had 17 digs against Mt. Union and 14 against Stevens early in the day. The defensive specialist was able to command large areas of the court and is proving to be a great asset.

"Katie is very resilient," Pavlik said. "She doesn't hang on to things and she recovers quickly. She played very good defense today."

Juniata finished the match against the Raiders with 48 kills, 117 attacks, 65 digs and 16 total blocks.

Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, PA / Upper Saint Clair) remained solid and totaled 43 assists against the Raiders and 83 total for the day.

The Eagles next match in the ASICS Invitational is Sat. Sept. 12 at 2pm against the University of Mary Washington.