(Posted October 22, 2004)

Juniata 3, Franklin and Marshall 1
Juniata 3, Eastern 0

Huntingdon, Pa. ? The Juniata College women?s volleyball team earned a pair of victories over Mid-Atlantic Region opponents as the Eagles topped Franklin and Marshall and Eastern University by 3-0 scores on the first day of competition at the ?Wid? Guisler Invitational in Huntingdon Friday evening. Juniata is now 23-3 on the season with the two victories.

In a rematch of the 2003 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship match, Juniata outlasted a stubborn Eastern squad by game scores of 30-23, 30-21 and 30-24.

All three games followed similar patterns as Eastern hung with the home squad through most of the match, only to have Juniata put together late runs to claim the wins. In game one, with the Eastern holding an 18-17 lead, a pair of kills from Rachael Schatz (West Perry/Elliotsburg) highlighted a 6-0 Juniata run. Katie Charles (Manheim Township/Lancaster) closed the game with a pair of kills to secure the win.

Game two was nearly identical. Eastern went up 15-12 on a kill from Emma Klein. Juniata rallied, tying the score at 16 on a solo block from Stephanie Kines (Towson/Towson, Md.). From there, Juniata scored nine of the next ten points, with Erin Wisor (Altoona/Altoona) posting two kills as Juniata pulled away.

Juniata?s run came even later in game three, as the two teams were knotted at 20 after a kill from Eastern?s Lisa Kubachka. This time Juniata put together a 6-1 run with Katie Laucks (West York/York) providing two kills and joining with Wisor for a block down the stretch to help secure the victory.

Laucks paced the Eagles with 12 kills and added a pair of aces and two blocks. Kines finished with nine kills and a team-best three blocks. Carli Dale (Cochranton/Cochranton) passed out 40 assists and was one of four Eagles in double figures in digs with 10. Kelly Popernik (Bartlett/Bartlett, Il.) brought up 16 digs to lead the team, with Wisor adding 15 and Abby Leonard (Shade/Johnstown) matching Dale with 10.

In the first match of the day Juniata took control early and never let the Diplomats into the match. Juniata took the match by scores of 30-14, 30-14 and 30-18.

The Eagles raced out to a big lead in game one with a kill from Laucks giving Juniata a 13-4 edge. The Eagles would cruise from there, as Schatz ended the game with kill.

The Diplomats hung with Juniata in game two, staying as close as 17-12 mid-way through the game. Juniata began to pull away from that point, getting two quick kills from Allie Phillips (Carlisle/Gardners) to get the run started and propel Juniata to the win.

Game two was tight for much of the way, with Franklin and Marshall holding a lead at 16-15. The Eagles responded with a pair of serve aces from Amy Ressler (Hempfield/East Petersburg) to take the lead back, then got a kill and a block down the stretch from Lindsey Habel (Glen Oak/Canton, Ohio) to earn the win.

Charles and Kines led Juniata with seven kills apiece. Kines also had a team-high three blocks. Dale passed out 29 assists while adding seven digs. Habel paced the team with three aces and Popernik led the team with eight digs.

Juniata will wrap up competition at the Guisler Invitational tomorrow as the Eagles take on Rutgers-Newark and Carnegie Mellon.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.