Eagles Fly High in Sweep of Riverhawks
SELLINSGROVE, PA- The Juniata women's volleyball team traveled to Susquehanna University on Saturday and came back with their seventh straight 3-0 sweep and another Landmark Conference victory.
The match started like many of their previous sweeps, with neither team gaining a significant edge early. An Eagles run came quick though, winning six straight points from 3-4 to 9-4. After trading points, a 0-4 burst put the Riverhawks back to down one at 10-9. Two 3-0 bursts ensued from the Eagles, showing them an 18-13 lead at the end of it. While the Eagles looked to be cruising to set point, Susquehanna came back quickly with a 1-6 run late, bringing them within two points at 23-21. In the clutch, the Eagles came out on top, taking set one 25-21 on a Riverhawks attack error.
The Eagles dropped a mere four points in the opening 15 of set two, including 4-0 and 6-0 runs to push their advantage. A seven point lead at 11-4 was one which the Eagles never gave up in the rest of the set. While Susquehanna continued to score points, they couldn't do so at a rate to catch up with the Eagles. The Eagles cruised to a 25-15 set win, the final point coming on a kill by Audrey Muth.
The Eagles reached another 11-4 lead in set three, but this one came after a 3-3 split followed an 8-1 run to open the set. The Juniata advantage was cut to five points at 13-8, but from there it seemed to keep growing. That was, until the Riverhawks made a late push, coming within four at 21-17. As many teams this year have found out though, five and four points is still too much ground to make up on Juniata. A kill by Maggie Hayes gave the Eagles a 25-19 set three win on the final point of the match.
Emily Farrell and Muth led in kills for the Eagles, with 13 and 12 each. Elizabeth Cleveland's 39 assists were the match-high alongside Isabella Rushing's 14 digs.
Now 20-2 and 7-0 in conference, the Eagles will shift their attention to senior night next Friday at 7:00 p.m. when they host Moravian University