Women’s Volleyball Sweeps All-Landmark Awards

TOWSON, MD- Juniata women’s volleyball swept the major awards in the Landmark Conference as Amelia Kepler (Kane, PA/Kane Area) was voted the Landmark Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Brittani Young (Columbia, PA/Hempfield Area) was named the Specialist of the Year and Megan Moroney (Mentor, OH/Mentor) was chosen as the Rookie of the Year. The Juniata coaching staff also repeats as the Landmark Coaching Staff of the Year.

Kepler switched back and forth between outside hitter and opposite this season and still finished with 2.37 kills per set against some of the top teams in the country. She played in six conference matches and hit .295 with 2.76 kills per set. She earns First Team All-Landmark honors for the third consecutive year.

Young joins Kepler on the First Team. She averaged nearly five digs per set against a strong schedule with the nationally ranked Eagles. Young finished with 4.52 digs per set in conference play.

Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) was named to the First Team at middle hitter and is a two-time selection. She finished with 2.42 kills per set with a .274 hitting percentage before earning Most Valuable Player honors at the Landmark Championship.

Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, PA/Upper Saint Clair) was chosen as the conference's top setter again this season. Reynolds stepped in at Juniata right away last year and continued her consistent play this season with 9.78 assists per set. She also added 2.52 digs per set. 

Moroney won a starting spot a couple of weeks into the season and has put together an impressive rookie campaign at Juniata. She finished the regular season with 2.26 kills per set and a .307 hitting percentage. Moroney also averaged 0.79 blocks per set to earn Second Team honors along with the Rookie of the Year award. 

Mar-Jana Phillips (Carson, CA/Rolling Hills Prep) joins Moroney on the second team. Phillips led the Eagles in kills with 248 and averaged 2.58 per set.

The Coaching Staff of the Year honor marks the fourth for the Eagles and second since Heather Pavlik took over as head coach. Juniata went undefeated in the conference for the eighth straight season before earning its eighth Landmark title. The Eagles have been ranked in the top 25 all season and consistently in the top 10. Pavlik and her staff will lead Juniata into a record 34th NCAA tournament as the Eagles will face Franciscan on Thursday.