Women's Volleyball Finds Victory in Two Tough Matches at Wesleyan Invitational
MIDDLETOWN, CT- The Juniata women's volleyball team added two 3-0 victories on Saturday and sealed the deal on a flawless October record, winning and sweeping their opponents in every match this month. The two wins make it 85 in a row for the Eagles.
First, the Eagles faced the Bombers of Ithaca College.
Ithaca jumped out to an early 1-3 lead in the opening set, and even when the Eagles brought it back, the Bombers kept regaining a small cushion. That small cushion wouldn't last though, as the Eagles kept the game close throughout the set. There were 10 different ties throughout, but the Eagles were able to pull through in the end, 25-21. They won five of the last seven points in the set, the final point coming off of an Ithaca attack error.
Set two followed suit, although this time the Eagles were the team who started on the front foot. They held an 8-2 lead after the first ten points, and although Ithaca came close, Juniata never trailed in the set. The closest the Bombers got was at the end of a 1-7 run, where they were within two points at 12-10. They came within two points twice more later in the set, but again the Eagles triumphed. This time via a final kill by Lily Podolan and score of 25-20.
Set three against the Bombers was another tightly contested affair. Ithaca got off to a strong start and they held the lead for a large part of the set. It wasn't until the Eagles were down 11-16 when they ramped up their game. The Eagles would go on a clutch 11-1 run to storm ahead and take the five point lead that Ithaca had once held. At 22-17, the Eagles went 3-2 in the home stretch to secure the 25-19 set win. Mackenzie Coley secured the win with a kill on the final point.
Coley also led the team with 13 kills against the Bombers, while Olivia Foley totaled 40 assists and Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez made 11 digs.
In match two, the Eagles went up against the Colby College Mules.
The teams traded points early in set one, and the Eagles were the first team to hold a lead of more than three points at 10-6. Right then, the Mules would win eight out of the next ten points to lead 12-14. The Mules extended that lead to three points at 14-17, but the Eagles won three big points in a row to tie it up at 17. The teams were tied again at 20, setting up for a photo finish. It would be the Eagles who came out on top, winning five of the last six points to achieve the 25-21 set win. Podolan made another clutch kill on set point.
Set two was another closely contested set in a competitive day for the Eagles. Neither team separated themselves on the scoreboard for the duration of the set. The largest lead was three points, held by Juniata at 13-10 and at 14-11. Although, when the Eagles first regained the lead at 9-8, they never gave it up again. The Mules kept responding when the Eagles tried to gain some separation, but they were never able to overtake the Eagles. Courtney Williams made the final kill this time in the Eagles' closest set of the day, where they won 25-22.
Like most of the day for the Eagles, set three against Colby came down to the wire. The largest lead of the set this time was four points, held by the Eagles at 18-14, as the early parts of the set were again, very closely contested. Each time one team would win a few points, the other team would respond. At 18-14 though, the Eagles gained some key separation that would make life tougher for the Mules. The game came within one point again at 20-19, but the Eagles won five of the last seven points, demonstrating their ability to win big points late in close sets yet again. The Eagles won it 25-21, with the final point coming off another kill by Coley.
Coley and Foley led the Eagles again in kills and assists, respectively. Coley equaled her match one total of 13 kills in match two, while Foley added 37 assists this time. Kennedy Christy had the match-high in digs at 18.
The two wins push the Eagles to 23-0 on the year. They will resume conference play next Friday at 6:00 p.m. against Drew, where the 2024 senior class on the team will also be honored. The Eagles have four matches left in the regular season, all at home.