Eagles Eclipse Royals, Women’s Volleyball Crowned Landmark Champions for the 15th Straight Time
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women's volleyball team took care of business in four sets against the University of Scranton in front of a raucous crowd Saturday evening to win the Landmark Conference Championship for the 15th straight time. The win means they also earn the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament that begins next Thursday.
The match opened with the teams trading errors; the first kill was by Scranton, who made it 4-2. Mackenzie Coley notched the first kill of the day for JC with a kill in the back left corner. Audrey Muth followed that up with a kill just inside the end line. Coley put another kill in the back left to make it 7-2. Scranton hung around, with a kill and ace pulling them within four at 10-6. Courtney Williams put down two straight kills, the second of the thunderous variety that Scranton had no hope of trying to dig. Scranton called timeout but to no avail. Sydney Ohl came out of the timeout with an ace; Kennedy Christy added a kill before another Ohl ace made it 15-6. A Scranton flurry made it 16-9, but Coley dominated down the stretch as she tallied four kills and two block assists to help the Eagles take set one. A cross-court kill from Christy was the final point of set one.
The second set was much tighter, with the Royals holding a lead at 16-18. Two errors from Scranton, a service error, and an attack error, made it 18-18, and the Royals called timeout. A Coley kill, a McKenna Walker ace that befuddled the Scranton defense, and another big kill from Coley was proceeded by one more Walker ace that dropped right in front of the Royal back line to make it 22-18 Eagles. Three straight from Scranton made it 22-21, and Juniata called timeout. The Eagles found success through Coley again to make it 23-21. The teams traded points as JC sat at set point, 24-23, before Muth placed the ball perfectly in the middle of the Royal defense, and their errant dig attempt saw the ball fly into the stands JC took set two, 25-23.
Scranton took a 3-8 lead early in set three, and the Eagles slowly clawed their way out of the hole, pulling even at 10-10. The teams traded points for a bit, but with the score at 14 apiece, the Royals rattled off four quick points. A Juniata flurry with kills from Muth, Williams, and Lily Podolan saw them get within one at 18-19, but that was as close as they would get as Scranton took set three 21-25 on a block.
That saw Juniata lock in for set four as the Eagles came ready to claim the title. Two errors, two well-placed kills from Podolan, kills from Coley and Christy, a Royal error, and one more Podolan kill had JC sitting comfortably at 9-0. The Royals slowly but surely got back in the set, eventually cutting what was at once a 12-point lead down to four at 21-17. Juniata called a timeout, with a Podolan kill out of the timeout paired with a Royal attack error pushing the lead back to six. An Eagle attack error was followed by a Coley slide that crashed into the floor to give JC championship point. The Eagle faithful rose as one and began to clap, but Scranton had other ideas. They fought off three match points before Coley put down her career-high 17th kill to crown the Eagles Landmark Champions once again.
Coley was named Landmark Championship MVP after she tallied 17 kills while hitting .400 with three block assists. Williams was impressive in the middle as she tallied ten kills while hitting .667 with a block assist. Podolan had 16 kills of her own while hitting .279, while Olivia Foley totaled 51 assists to go with nine digs, four kills, and two block assists. Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez amassed 29 digs, five assists, and two aces. Christy had a double-double as she tallied 11 kills, 12 digs, two aces, and two block assists. Walker had a team-high three aces to go with her nine digs, while Ohl chipped in with two aces and nine digs.
It never gets old�� pic.twitter.com/CIbkWUBD1W
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) November 6, 2022
This is the program's 41st consecutive conference championship, dating back to their time in the Middle Atlantic Conference.
The Eagles, riding a 21-match winning streak, advance to the NCAA tournament and will find out who and where they will play Monday at 1:00 PM.