Eagles Vanquish Knights

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata women's volleyball team closed out this weekend's tri-match with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-22) victory over the Arcadia Knights Saturday evening in Memorial Gymnasium.

The Knights held an early lead in the first set, holding a 7-2 advantage and forcing a Juniata timeout. A kill by Dejia Danhi (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge), two kills from Marybeth Weihbrecht (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and a service ace from Sophia Gingrich (Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis Southwest HS) narrowed Arcadia's lead to 6-9, and the two teams continued to trade points back and forth. Arcadia kept a one-point lead throughout until two service aces from Gringrich had the teams tied at 19-19.

The Eagles and Knights were neck and neck for the remainder of the set, kills from Victoria Taylor (Middletown, Del./Delaware Military Academy) keeping Juniata within one at 25-24. Morgan Edwards (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) tallied two kills, helping JC capture the set, 28-26.

Juniata went on a four-point run early in the second set to take a 5-3 lead. Several errors from the Knights and kills from Taylor and Danhi gave Juniata a 9-6 advantage, and the team slowly started to pull away. Taylor led the way for four kills, and a kill from Edwards alongside an Arcadia attack error gave Juniata the 25-19 win.

Set three saw both teams struggle to find a significant advantage. The Knights pulled ahead at 13-16, but the Eagles fought back, going on a four-point run to go up 21-17 after kills from Edwards and Weihbrecht and a Danhi service ace. Arcadia battled back to come within one at 22-21, but Juniata sealed the 25-22 victory off a Weihbrecht kill and an Arcadia service error.

Weihbrecht led the Eagles with 12 kills. Taylor tallied 11 kills, four digs, and one block assist, and Edwards totaled eight kills, one dig, and one solo block. Gringrich had 12 digs in the match and three service aces.

The Eagles travel to Clarion on Tuesday, Sept. 25. The match starts at 7pm.