Eagles Sweep Blue Jays for Coach Pavilk's 400th Win

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA- The Eagles traveled to Elizabethtown College in a Landmark Conference contest Friday night and came home with a 3-0 win to add to their record. The win marked Head Coach Heather Pavlik's 400th career win, taking her only 470 matches to reach such a figure. She dropped two matches in her past three seasons, winning 100 of her last 102 since October 22, 2022.

The match against the Blue Jays was hard-fought on both sides, but the Eagles began the match making it look like a cakewalk. Starting 6-0, the Eagles held an early lead which reached as large as nine points at 11-2. While the Blue Jays found their footing and began to chip away at the lead, the Eagles kept the pressure on. The Juniata lead only shrunk to five at 21-16, as the Eagles were determined to close out the set. Ending on a 4-1 run, the Eagles took set one 25-17. Audrey Muth made the final kill on an assist by Elizabeth Cleveland.

Set two was closely-contested. Early on, the Blue Jays even found a lead after a three point burst put them up 5-7. The Eagles won the next four points though, gaining a 9-7 lead which was quickly brought back to a tie at 11-11. The teams split the next eight points, tying at each numeral until the Eagles won three in a row from 15-15 to 18-15. From there, the Eagles only conceded three points in the rest of the set, clinching the set two victory 25-18. The Blue Jays made a service error on the final point. 

The Eagles looked to shut down any hopes of a comeback in the third set, but struggled to gain significant separation on the scoreboard early. While the score was close, the Eagles remarkably never trailed in the set. Neither team held more than a three point lead until Juniata won four straight from 12-11 to 16-11, pushing the lead to five. A 6-1 run went in favor of Juniata after the Blue Jays brought the lead down to two, and the Eagles were up 23-16. Despite a late push from Elizabethtown, Juniata reached set point at 24-19 and won the match two points later with set three concluding at 25-20 on a Blue Jays attack error. 

Kills were highest for Emily Farrell and Maggie Hayes against the Blue Jays, as the pair dropped 14 and 13 respectively. Cleveland tallied 42 assists and Isabella Rushing's 29 digs led the team on the night.

19-2 and 6-0 in conference, the Eagles will look to continue their strong play against Susquehanna University tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.