#2 Juniata Tops #9 Christopher Newport in Four Sets

HUNTINDGON, Pa.- Juniata women's volleyball hosted the 24^th annual ASICS Tournament on Friday and hosted Christopher Newport in the second of two matches on the evening. The Eagles came back in take the first set and withstood a resilient Captains squad to win 3-1. The win knocks CNU from the ranks of the unbeaten with its record now standing at 4-1 while JC improves to 5-0.

Leading the offense was Megan Moroney (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) who had 10 kills and hit .409 on the night. She also contributed on the defensive end with five assisted blocks. Kelly Reynolds (Upper Saint Clair, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) added 33 assists, 10 digs, and four assisted blocks. Katie Byrne (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) put up 18 digs with Korin Koehler (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) adding 10.

The first set saw the Eagles lead 6-3 until the Captains went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 10-7. JC would tie the match at 13-13 but CNU would go ahead with leads of 16-13 and 19-15. Juniata closed out the frame on a 10-4 run that ended with a kill from Nakita Gearhart (Waynesboro, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim).

CNU came out strong in the second frame as it led 11-6 and then 15-7. The Captains maintained a steady lead throughout as it evened the match with a 26-16 win.

The third set was evenly matched early on with both teams trading points. Christopher Newport's last lead occurred at 12-11 as the Eagles broke away to go up 20-14 and edged out the Captains 5-3 down the stretch to go up 2-1 in the match.

The Eagles raced out to 4-0 lead in the fourth stanza. CNU closed the game and led at one point 9-7 but Juniata pulled away and led the rest of the way at it won 25-20.

JC starts the second day of competition at noon on Saturday against Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles then face #8 Wittenberg to close the day at 6:00 p.m.