The Week Ahead in Juniata Athletics - Feb. 21, 2012

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (24-1 overall, 14-0 Landmark)
#10 in USA Today/ESPN poll / #10 in D3hoops.com poll

Juniata defeated Susquehanna, 77-48, to close out regular season undefeated for the first time in program history... Juniata outrebound the Crusaders 46-26, with Natalie Glinsky (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) leading the way with 10; she completed the double-double with 13 points... Meagan Raville (McSherrystown, Pa./Delone Catholic) scored 16 points including a flawless 8-of-8 performance from the foul line... Juniata posted a .456 shooting percentage from the field compared to Susquehanna's .346... the Eagles managed to sink 23 points off 22 Crusader turnovers... Jordan Hileman (Williamsburg, Pa./Williamsburg) led Juniata in assists with seven and both Kate McDonald (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa./State College Area) and Raville charted seven rebounds and three steals apiece... Juniata’s 24 wins matches the 1979-80 team (24-4) for the most in program history... the Eagles are only the second basketball team – men’s or women’s – to finish undefeated in Landmark Conference play; the 2009-10 Moravian women’s basketball team is the only other squad to accomplish the feat.

This week’s games
Landmark Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament
Wednesday, Feb. 22 – No. 4 Moravian (15-10, 8-6 Landmark) at No. 1 Juniata – 7:00 p.m.
No. 3 Catholic (20-5, 11-3 Landmark) at No. 2 Scranton (16-9, 11-3 Landmark) – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 – Championship game at site of higher seed – Time TBA

MEN’S BASKETBALL (17-7 overall, 9-4 Landmark)

Juniata men’s basketball closed out the 2011-12 regular season with an 81-71 loss at Susquehanna on Saturday night, giving the Eagles the third seed for this week’s Landmark Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament... the Eagles will return to Selinsgrove on Wednesday night to face no. 2 seed Susquehanna... Juniata will be making its first post-season appearance since the 2007-08 season, when the Eagles advanced to the Landmark championship game and earned an ECAC South tournament berth... the Eagles trailed Susquehanna by 18 points at the half, but cut the margin to six points at the 5:30 mark of the second half... Susquehanna shot .533 from the field against Juniata, just the fourth time this season the Eagles have allowed an opponent to shoot .500-or-better – however all four have come over Juniata’s last six games... Kevin Stapleton (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) led the Eagles with 14 points against the Crusaders on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, giving the sophomore his 17^th double-digit scoring performance of the season... over the past four games, Stapleton has shot .538 (21-of-39) from the field... Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Altoona Area) connected on one 3-pointer against Susquehanna, extending his streak of consecutive games with at least one trey to 20.

This week’s games
Landmark Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament
Wednesday, Feb. 22 – No. 3 Juniata at No. 2 Susquehanna (15-9, 9-5 Landmark) – 7:00 p.m.
No. 4 Moravian (12-13, 7-7 Landmark) at No. 1 Scranton (18-7, 11-3 Landmark – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 – Championship game at site of higher seed – Time TBA

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (9-5 overall, 0-0 Continental Volleyball Conference)
#4 in AVCA Division III Coaches Top 15 poll

Juniata men’s volleyball took a split out of two matches played at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.... the Eagles dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 8 Stevens (25-27, 25-22, 17-25, 25-21, 11-15) in the opening match, but rallied to post a 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-15) triumph over New Jersey City University in the second match... outside hitter Ross Madden (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) led Juniata offensively with 24 kills over the two matches while hitting .316 for the week... middle Ben Wolff (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) logged 20 kills while hitting .381, and had six total blocks... Juniata hosts Nazareth College, Springfield College, Thiel College, and Lancaster Bible College in the Juniata Invitational tournament on Friday and Saturday... the Eagles close the weekend by hosting Division II Grand Canyon University on Saturday night; the Antelopes are coached by former Juniata head coach Jeremy Price (2007-10), with four-time AVCA All-America and 2007 AVCA Division III Player of the Year Matt Werle ’09 serving as one of Price’s assistant coaches.

This week’s matches
2012 Juniata Invitational
Friday, Feb. 24 – 2:00 p.m. – Lancaster Bible (3-1) at Juniata
4:00 p.m. – Thiel College (8-5) vs. Nazareth College (10-4)
6:00 p.m. – Lancaster Bible vs. Springfield College (11-4)
8:00 p.m. – Springfield College at Juniata
Saturday, Feb. 25 – 10:00 a.m. – Thiel College vs. Lancaster Bible
12:00 p.m. – Springfield College vs. Nazareth College
2:00 p.m. – Springfield College vs. Thiel College
4:00 p.m. – Nazareth College at Juniata
7:00 p.m. – Grand Canyon Univ. (11-5) at Juniata

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Juniata competed at the Susquehanna Open in its final tune-up for the 2012 Landmark Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships... Angela Shaffer (Prospect, Pa./Slippery Rock) improved her personal best in the long jump with a mark of 15-9 ½ at the Susquehanna Open, a mark good enough for eighth in the meet and fourth on the all-time Juniata performance rankings... Shaffer took the only first-place finish of the day for the Juniata women, winning the high jump with a leap of 5-3 ¾, and she took eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 32-1 ½ and fourth in the 60m hurdles (9.51 seconds)... Kristyn Ginter (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) took 14^th in the weight throw with a toss of 36-11, which ranks fourth all-time for Juniata in that event... Erika Brown (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) equaled her personal best in the high jump with a height of 5-1 ¾, finishing third in the event at the Susquehanna Open.

This week’s events
Sat., Feb. 25 – at Landmark Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships (Selinsgrove, Pa.)

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Juniata was at the Susquehanna Open last Friday, in its final tune-up for the Landmark Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships... Nicholas Bauer (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) captured the only individual first for Juniata at the Susquehanna Open, winning the long jump with a mark of 21-4 ¾. He also finished sixth in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 40-7... Aaron McCoy (Muncy, Pa./Hughesville) was ninth in the 200m dash with a time of 23.96, and Trevor Stephens (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) was 10^th in the 800m run with a time of 2:03.01.

This week’s events
Sat., Feb. 25 – at Landmark Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships (Selinsgrove, Pa.)

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