(Posted October 23, 2004)

Juniata 3, Rutgers-Newark 0
Juniata 3, Carnegie Mellon 1

Huntingdon, Pa. ? The Juniata College women?s volleyball team posted a perfect 4-0 record at an invitational tournament for the third time this season, this time earning to victories on the final day of its own ?Wid? Guisler Invitational with a 3-0 win over Rutgers-Newark and a 3-1 triumph over Carnegie Mellon. Juniata closes the tournament with a 4-0 mark, and are now 25-3 overall.

Juniata?s toughest match of the tournament came as the second-ranked Eagles took on the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon, currently ranked 25th in Division III. The Eagles outlasted the visitors 30-16, 30-32, 30-18 and 30-12.
Katie Charles (Manheim Township/Lancaster) led a balanced Juniata offensive attack with a season-high 21 kills. Katie Laucks (West York/York) and Stephanie Kines (Towson/Towson, Md.) were both in double figures with 14 and 12 kills respectively. Lindsey Habel (Glen Oak/Canton, Ohio) and Rachael Schatz (West Perry/Elliotsburg) each added nine kills. Setter Carli Dale (Cochranton/Cochranton) ran an efficient offense, passing out 61 assists on the match while adding 16 digs.

Digs were a big story as the Eagles turned up the defensive intensity and got to a lot of kill attempts by Carnegie Mellon. As a team, Juniata compiled 63 digs, with freshman libero Kelly Popernik (Bartlett/Bartlett, Il.) pacing the team with her season-high 20 digs. Abby Leonard (Shade/Johnstown) chipped in 13 digs for Juniata?s defensive effort. Kines also brought a strong defensive presence at the net with five blocks. Juniata also was strong in the service game, as Laucks and Erin Wisor (Altoona/Altoona) each tossed in three aces.

Juniata went with primarily reserve players in the match against Rutgers-Newark and came away with a 30-15, 30-21, 30-16 victory.

Juniata?s serving was the difference in this match as the Eagles poured in 18 serve aces which matched the team high from this season. Amy Ressler (Hempfield/East Petersburg) and Kines both had five aces in the match, with freshman Aly Pompeani (Hopewell/Aliquippa) adding four aces.

Kines and Ressler both also were the top offensive options for Juniata as each finished with 10 kills. Allie Phillips (Carlisle/Gardners) added nine finishes and notched five blocks in the contest. Kines posted three blocks to go with her 10 kills, and freshman Tara McMinn (Huntingdon/Huntingdon) was in double figures with 13 digs.

Juniata will close out the conference regular season schedule on Tuesday when Juniata plays at Susquehanna.

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