Women's Volleyball Sweeps Catholic for 90th Straight Win, Advances to Landmark Conference Championship
HUTNINGDON, Pa. - The Juniata women's volleyball team opened postseason play in 2024 with a 3-0 sweep over the Catholic University Cardinals in the Landmark Conference semifinals. The win also clinched Juniata's 90th consecutive victory, inching closer to the alll-time women's collegiate volleyball record of 109, held by Penn State team from 2007-2010.
The Eagles won seven of the first ten points in set one against the Cardinals, but the Cardinals responded, winning the same portion of the next ten points and tying the game at 10-10. The teams traded points, and then Juniata went on a big 7-0 run to establish some separation from the Cardinals in the scoreline. Catholic kept fighting, but they couldn't make up the difference late as the Eagles took set one 25-16. Mackenzie Coley spiked home the final point for the Eagles.
The Eagles began set two slower than set one, as Catholic led 3-5 early. A kill by Kennedy Christy seemed to spark some momentum for the Eagles, as Coley followed that up with a kill and three straight service aces in the midst of a long 13-2 run right in the gut of set two. Catholic would win points every so often, but they would never be able to make up the ground they lost from that run. A kill by Audrey Muth clinched the 25-13 set victory.
The Ealges set the tone early in set three, opening a 9-2 lead which quickly ballooned to 16-4. Kills were coming from all over the floor and the Eagles were soaring. They won five straight points to close out their best performing set of the night, 25-9, on a final kill by Coley.
Coley shined the brightest on a great team performance by the Eagles with 16 kills (.625), including those three service aces, while Olivia Foley made 43 assists and Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez made 16 digs.
The Eagles will now host the Landmark Conference Championship against Scranton University on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.