(Posted October 17, 2009)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Juniata College earned the right to host the final two rounds of the Landmark Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament, with a pair of conference wins in Saturday's round robin event at Catholic University's DuFour Center.

Juniata (22-2, 5-0 Landmark) began the day with a 3-0 win over the University of Scranton, by scores of 25-17, 25-19, and 25-12. The Eagles finished with a 3-0 win over Susquehanna University, 25-14, 25-13, and 25-19.

The wins allowed Juniata to secure the top seed for the Landmark Conference tournament. After quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 4, Juniata will host the semifinals and championship match on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center.

Junior Sam Bristol (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch) paced the Eagles in the win over Scranton, recording nine kills on 28 swings. Sophomore middle Amanda Schmidt (Boswell, Pa./North Star) had nine kills for the Eagles, while Michelle Morchesky (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) and Madison Petsos (Portsmouth, Va./Norfolk Collegiate) recorded eight kills.

Morchesky led the Eagles defensively with 16 digs, while Collin Wallace (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) turned up 15 digs.

Alexa Ebert (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) guided a Juniata offense that hit .291 for the match with 35 assists.

Juniata held Scranton to a .101 attack percentage, and the Eagles outblocked the Royals, 4.0 to 2.5.

The Eagles handled the Crusaders in a similar fashion, hitting .407 for the match while keeping Susquehanna to a .141 attack clip. Sophomore Drew Barnhart (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) tallied 12 kills on 21 swings and did not commit an error, finishing with a .571 hitting percentage.

Steph Strauss (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) logged 38 assists, and recorded three solo blocks for the Eagles. Freshman middle Kelsey Fuller (Red Land, Pa./Red Land) was both an offensive and defensive weapon for Juniata, racking up nine kills on 16 swings while turning up a team-high 10 digs.

Juniata wraps up the conference round-robin weekend on Sunday, Oct. 18, when it faces Moravian College at 2:00 p.m. at Catholic's DuFour Center.

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