Tigers Top Eagles in Five Set-Upset to End 103 Game Win Streak
SPRINGFIELD, OH- The Juniata women's volleyball team battled until the very end in a tight match against the Wittenburg University Tigers on Friday night, falling in five sets, 2-3. The loss is the program's first since September 16, 2022, from which 103 matches have been played and won since. Here's how it unfolded:
Right from the start this match proved to be tight. Both teams needed to stay disciplined and concentrated in long rallies to come out on top. In set one, neither team held more than a two point lead until the Eagles gained a narrow edge at 20-17. Before that, the Eagles's first lead came at 17-16, in the midst of a 5-1 run. The Eagles had come from behind to tie the game on seven separate occasions before then, but only gained their first lead after 33 points had been played. After that 5-1 run, the Tigers responded with a 1-6 run of their own, and despite being down 21-23, the Eagles had the last say, winning the final four points to win the set, 25-23. Maggie Hayes clinched the final kill for Juniata.
Set two began to tilt the match in the Tigers' favor. Their momentum seemed unstoppable in an opening 4-12 run, establishing separation that the Eagles wouldn't be able to make up. Wittenburg played clean, limited their errors, and capitalized on opportunities to stay out in front of Juniata on the scoreboard. The Eagles had cut the deficit down to six points, but ultimately the Tigers took set two, 14-25.
Set three was an important one for the momentum of the match. After a 4-0 run from 4-4 to 7-4, the Eagles had established a lead. At 10-6 though, the Tigers made a 1-5 run to knot the game up at 11. From there, the teams traded short bursts of offense until the Eagles gained a short edge at 20-18. The following points would be decisive ones, and they fell Wittenburg's way, as they made several plays in a crucial 0-7 run to close the Eagles out, 20-25.
Down 1-2, the Eagles entered a win or go home situation in set four. After an opening 1-4 run from the Tigers, the Eagles found a timely response and controlled the middle of the set. The Eagles gained their first lead at 9-8 in the midst of a 9-2 run, at the end of which gave them a six point advantage, up 17-11. After extending that lead to ten at 23-13, the Eagles sat two points away from forcing a fifth set. The Tigers did not go down without a fight though. The Eagles dropped seven points before clinching two of their own, winning the set 25-20 with a sigh of relief after a Wittenburg attack error.
It all came down to set five. The Eagles had come from behind numerous times in their past 103 wins, but a 0-3 deficit became one that the Eagles would not be able to overcome on the night. For most of the set, the Tigers' lead tetered between three and four points. Down 7-11, the Eagles had to make a stand, and they did, winning four of the next five points to bring the match within one point. At 11-12, Wittenburg made a nice kill on the outisde to push the lead back to two. Despite fighting off set point at 12-14, the Eagles just couldn't find their way back into the lead in the final points. Wittenburg took the set and match, 13-15 and 2-3.
Across the five sets, Ava Gummer made 15 kills and Elizabeth Cleveland added 42 assists. Isabella Rushing totaled a team-high 18 digs on the night.
The Eagles drop to 6-1 on the year and end the program's 103 match win streak with the loss. Despite falling short of the all-time record for NCAA women's volleyball, the Eagles have much to be proud of with the record's they have set, holding the longest win streak of all time in NCAA DIII Women's Volleyball, and even surpassing the NCAA DII record as well. Juniata will look to respond tomorrow in their matchups against Transylvania University at 11:00 a.m. and Ohio Northern University at 4:00 p.m.