Juniata Battles Division II Clarion, Suffers First Loss of Season 2-3

CLARION, PA – The Juniata women's volleyball team (15-1, 3-0 Landmark) went toe-to-toe with Division II's Clarion University (8-7, 4-0 PSAC) Tuesday night and suffered their first loss of the season 2-3 (30-28, 20-25, 23-25, 25-17, 10-15). 

JC and Clarion fought hard for every point throughout the match. In the first set alone, there were eight lead changes and 14 ties. 

Back-to-back kills from Mar-Jana Phillips (Carson, CA / Rolling Hills Prep) gave Juniata the win in the first set. Phillips totaled 15 kills in the match. 

Clarion took the following set 25-20. 

Juniata would hold a 17-10 lead in the third set before Clarion went on a 10-3 run to tie the match up at 20.  The set would be tied up once more at 23 to force a CU timeout. A kill and service ace from Clarion gave the Golden Eagles a 2-1 lead over Juniata. 

CU carried their momentum from the third set into the fourth and took an early 7-3 lead. Juniata climbed back and tied up the set at 7. They reached set point with a seven-point lead over Clarion. Bryce Arnold (Shippensburg, PA / Shippensburg Area) recorded a service ace to make the score 25-17 and tie the match up at two sets a-piece. 

Clarion jumped ahead in the fifth with an 8-3 lead but JC continued to fight. Back-to-back kills from Kristin Collins (Freedom, PA / Ambridge) made it 8-11, forcing a CU timeout. Collins finished the match with nine kills.

Juniata closed the gap even further and made it a one-point game before Clarion earned five straight points to take the set 15-10 and the match 3-2. 

Brittanie Tannenbaum (Highlands Ranch, CO / Highlands Ranch) recorded 13 kills in the match, followed by Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, PA / Greencastle-Antrim) with 12 kills and Megan Moroney (Mentor, OH / Mentor) with 10. 

Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, PA / Upper Saint Clair) tied her career-high at 59 assists, set Sept. 12 against Clarkson. 

Juniata returns home Fri. Oct. 2 to face Marietta College at 7pm in Memorial Gym.