Eagles Narrowly Edge Pirates Before Falling to #3 Tigers

TRINTY, Tx.- The #2 Juniata women's volleyball team needed five sets to take down Southwestern in their first match of the, 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 26-28, 25-14, 15-10) before battling valiantly but ultimately losing to #3 Trinity 3-1 (20-25, 15-25, 25-19, 28-30) Friday inside Bell Center on day one of the Trinity Invitational. 

The opening set was close early, with Juniata trailing by two 9-11. Two errors paired with a kill each from Lily Podolan and Kennedy Christy put the Eagles back up by one. The Pirates took the next point before JC tallied another four points on kills from Christy, Podolan, Mackenzie Coley, and a McKenna Walker ace. Juniata went on to take the set 25-19. 

The second set looked promising for the Eagles as they led 19-14 late and even held set point at 24-22, but the Pirates pilfered the set with a 4-0 run, 24-26. 

The third set saw Juniata trail most of the way, but with the score at 15-20, they took over. Five errors by Southwestern, along with two Podolan kills and one from Lexy Bloss, made it 23-20. The Pirates pulled even, and Coley got the Eagles to set point at 26-25, but again the Pirates closed on a run as they took the final three points to win 26-28. 

The Eagles opened set four on an 11-2 run and never let up as they cruised to a 25-14 win to force a fifth set. 

It was a back-and-forth affair in the decisive set, with the teams even most of the way through at 9-9. A Podolan kill, an ace from Aly Reardon, and an error by the Pirates had JC up by three. Southwestern took the next point but kills from Christy, and an ace from Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez handed the Eagles match point. A diving dig by Reardon kept the play alive and was eventually ended by Christy to give Juniata the 15-10 win. 

The second match did not start well for the Eagles as they quickly found themselves behind two sets to zero as Trinity came roaring out to start (20-25, 15-25). 

The third set saw Trinity look to wrap things up as they opened with a 4-0 rally, but the Eagles slowly pulled their way back into the match. Abbey Telesz came in and helped the Eagles get within one at 7-8. JC mounted a 5-0 run behind two Audrey Muth kills, two Tiger errors, and a Christy ace. Trinity rattled off four straight points to get even at 12 before committing a service error, Muth tallied another kill, and Lacie Brown served up an ace. The Eagles nursed a lead the rest of the way, winning the set 25-19 to lengthen the match. 

The fourth set saw the teams trade haymakers the entire way, with neither team leading by more than four. Trinity held a late 18-22 lead, but JC didn't back down. A kill from Podolan, a block by Christy & Coley, and a kill from each made it 23-22 Juniata. Trinity took the following two points to reach match point, JC responded with a kill each again from Coley, and Christy saw the Eagles reach set point. The Tigers took the next point, and Juniata fought off three match points, but two attack errors ended the match in favor of the Tigers. 

Juniata will take on La Verne tomorrow at 3:30 EST.