Eagles Fall to Blue Jays 3-1

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Juniata College women's volleyball team fell to Johns Hopkins University, 3-1, at Goldfarb Gym Friday evening. 

Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del./Delaware Military Academy) led the Eagles with 10 kills and two service aces, Marybeth Weihbrecht (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) tallied eight kills and three block assists, and Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) notched seven kills and one block assist. Alyssa Tavera (Whittier, Calif./La Salle HS) had 13 assists and two service aces. Katie Byrne (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) logged 15 digs while Tatum Poirier (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley HS) totaled 13.

The opening set was tightly contested throughout with three ties. The Eagles were able to jump ahead 9-7 after kills from Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) and Megan Moroney (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor), but the Blue Jays refused to back down, going on an 8-0 point run to take a 9-15 lead. Juniata continued to battle and managed to tie the score three times including at 23-23, but back-to-back Johns Hopkins kills sealed the Eagles' fate 23-25.

Juniata took control early in the second set and didn't relent, leading throughout. Kills from Poirier and Edwards created a 13-9 difference, and the Eagles continued to widen their lead. The Blue Jays got within three at 21-18, but a service error and a kill from Moroney set the Eagles up 23-19. Two Johns Hopkins attack errors gave Juniata set two 25-19.

The Blue Jays took the score from 3-3 to 3-9 in the third set, forcing two Juniata timeouts early on.  The Eagles were unable to find their footing from that point forward, dropping the set 15-25.

The fourth set saw Juniata take an early 8-2 lead after a five point run with kills from Edwards, Danhi, and Taylor. Johns Hopkins rallied, taking the next seven points. Rachel Boe (San Carlos, Calif/Saint Francis) and Weihbrecht each had a kill to put the Eagles back up 10-9, but three Blue Jays kills and a Juniata attack error gave Johns Hopkins a 11-14 advantage. Kills from Tavera, Taylor and Weihbrecht and two attack errors on the Blue Jays put Juniata up 20-18, but Hopkins battled back, putting up three points of their own. Weihbrecht tied it back up at 22-22 with a kill, but a service error on Juniata and two service aces for the Blue Jays ultimately led Johns Hopkins to the 23-25 victory to take the match 3-1. 

The Eagles travel to Catholic Saturday, Oct. 14, to compete in a Landmark Tri-Match against both Catholic and Goucher. The Eagles will face Goucher at 2:30pm before facing-off against Catholic at 5:00pm.