Eagles Drop Two at the Emory National Classic

ATLANTA, Ga. - The Juniata College women's volleyball dropped two matches in the final day of the Emory National Classic at Emory University, Saturday.

The Eagles fell to Division II Lee University 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 17-25) before losing to #4 Emory 3-0 (25-27, 20-25, 18-25) in the nightcap.

Victoria Taylor (Middletown, DE/Delaware Military Academy) was named to the Emory National Classic All-Tournament Team. She tallied 13 kills and three block assists on the day. Marybeth Weihbrecht (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) tallied 17 kills, a solo block and eight block assists across the two matches. Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) notched seven kills along with seven block assists while Megan Moroney (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) had nine kills, six block assists and a solo block over the course of the day.

Juniata jumped out to a 3-0 lead early behind kills from Tatum Poirier (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley), Rachel Boe (San Carlos, Calif./Saint Francis) and Taylor. The Flames hung around early before Juniata created some breathing room. With the score at 8-6, the Eagles went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-7 lead. The Eagles cruised from there, taking the first set 25-18.

The second set was tightly contested with neither team leading by more than four most of the way. A Lee attack error tied things at 17, but the Juniata only scored three more points the rest of the set as the Flames took the second set 20-25.

The third set saw Juniata fall behind early, but they made Lee sweat the ending. Facing set point at 19-24, Juniata got kills from Alyssa Tavera (Whittier, Calif./La Salle) and Weihbrecht, along with two errors from Lee to make it 23-24. The Flames got one last kill to capture the third set.

The fourth set saw neither team pull away until Lee University, leading 13-11, took nine of the next 12 points to push their to 14-22 and close the Eagles 17-25.

In their second match of the day, Juniata came out strong, and clawed their way to a 12-10 lead. Emory captured the next three points before a Moroney kill tied the score at 13. The teams tied the score three more times, with the final tie at 24-24 following a Taylor kill. Danhi smashed a kill for the Eagles to give them a 25-24 lead, but the Flames took the next three points and the set.

Juniata trailed early before another Moroney kill brought them even with Lee at 12-12. A few points later, a Moroney and Taylor block got the Eagles within one at 15-16. The Flames took timeout and then scored nine of the final fourteen points to win the match.

Juniata is now 7-3 and will play at the CNU Invitational, Friday against Christopher Newport. Game time is 7:00.