Eagles Split on Day Two of Wid Guisler Invitational
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women’s volleyball split a pair of matches, defeating Wesleyan 3-0 before falling to Johnson and Wales 3-2, Saturday on Senior Day at Memorial Gymnasium on the final day of the Wid Guisler Invitational.
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata women's volleyball split a pair of matches, defeating Wesleyan 3-0 before falling to Johnson and Wales 3-2, Saturday on Senior Day at Memorial Gymnasium on the final day of the Wid Guisler Invitational.
Megan Moroney (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) had 22 kills, five solo blocks and three block assists over the two matches. Marybeth Weihbrecht (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) had 24 kills, a solo block and a block assist. Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del./Delaware Valley Military Academy) had 26 kills a solo block and a clock assist while Katie Byrne (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) had five aces, 46 digs and 11 assists. Katie Thomas (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) had 37 assists and 19 digs while Alyssa Tavera (Whittier, Calif./ LaSalle HS) had 49 assists and 19 digs.
The first set was tight the whole way through with the teams tying 10 times with the final tie at 23-23. Weihbrecht smashed a kill to give Juniata set point and Tavera got the final kill and give Juniata set one, 25-23.
The second set saw Juniata fall behind by as much as seven at 9-16, but they wouldn't go away and a kill from Weihbrecht made it 21-21. Kills from Tatum Poirier (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) and Rachel Boe (San Carlos, Calif./Saint Francis) made it 23-22 before the Cardinals took the next point to make it 23-22. Poirier smashed another kill to give the Eagles set point, but an attack error made it 24-23 before the Cardinals committed an attack error of their own to give Juniata the second set.
The third set saw Juniata concede the first five points of the match before they quickly came back, with a Thomas ace giving them an 8-7 lead. Juniata would eventually lead 20-16, but the Cardinals took three of the next four points to narrow the gap to 21-20 and force an Eagle timeout. With the score at 24-22, Weihbrecht ended the match and gave Juniata the hard-earned sweep.
The final match of the Wid Guisler Invitational featured Juniata against undefeated #14 Johnson and Wales. The first set saw neither team lead by more than five, and a Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) kill knotted the score at 25-25. A Wildcat error made it 26-25 before Moroney ended the set with a kill to Juniata the opening set.
Both second and the third set were knotted at 20-20 at one point, but Johnson and Wales closed out both and after three sets led 2-1.
The teams continued to be even with nine ties over the opening 20 points. Johnson and Wales took a 12-10 lead before two errors by the Wildcats and kills from Boe and Taylor gave Juniata a 13-12 advantage. Following a Johnson and Wales timeout Thomas served up an ace. The Wildcats stayed within three, but Juniata never trailed the rest of the set. With the score 24-23, Moroney smashed a kill to force a decisive fifth set.
The Eagles fell behind 0-6 early, but battled back with a Moroney kill narrowing the deficit to two at 6-8. The Wildcats called timeout and took the next point before a big block by Marie Gonsar (New Castle Pa./Shenango H.S.) made it 9-7. Johnson and & Wales got back to back kills and forced Juniata to call timeout. Boe made it 11-8, but the Wildcats pulled away and took the fifth set 15-10.
Juniata will play at Carnegie Mellon, Tuesday at 7:00.