Eagles Sweep Rangers to Open Conference Play

MADISON, NJ- The Juniata women's volleyball team opened Landmark Conference play with a 3-0 sweep of the Drew University Rangers on Friday night. 

After the teams evenly split the opening ten points of the match 5-5, each team found some consistent offense. A 4-0 run from the Eagles was matched by a 0-5 run from the Rangers, and another Juniata point tied the game again 10-10. With ties at 12-12, 13-13, and 14-14, it was looking like set one would come down to the wire. That was, until the Eagles went on a clutch 8-1 run to end the set 25-21 from being down 17-20. The final kill was made by Molly Mishinkash on an assist from Elizabeth Cleveland. 

Set two was largely defined by an 11-0 run from the Eagles early on. That gave them an eight point lead up 12-4 which the Rangers had quickly cut down to two at 14-12 with a 2-8 run of their own. The Eagles maintained their lead, pushing it back up to six with a 4-0 run from 17-15 to 21-15, but the Rangers would not go away. At 21-20, the lead shrank to one, and just as the Rangers looked to be back in the game, the Eagles commanded the floor in the clutch. Set two ended in the same scoreline as set one with the Eagles taking four of the last five points, 25-21. This time Audrey Muth made the set-clinching kill on an assist from Isabella Rushing.

The Eagles finished in style as set three was much more convincing. A 6-1 opening gave the Eagles a lead which they would never give up. A 5-0 run quickly followed and the Eagles led 11-3. Learning from the previous sets, the Eagles managed this one much better and kept building their lead, keeping their distance from the Rangers on the scoreboard. A 0-5 run from the Rangers came late on, but it wasn't enough to surge a comeback. The Eagles cruised to a set three victory, 25-15 on a kill by Hannah Webber, assisted by Mari Hansen. 

Mishinkash was marked as the kills leader for Juniata with nine, while Maggie Hayes closely followed with eight. Cleveland tallied up 18 assists alongside Hansen's 15, and Rushing led with 13 digs in the backcourt. 

Now 12-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference, the Eagles will play in a doubleheader tomorrow with one conference match against The University of Scranton at noon.