Coley's 24 Kills Lead Eagles Past Blue Jays in Landmark Opener

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.- Mackenzie Coley tallied a career-high 24 kills as the #1 Juniata volleyball team opened Landmark Conference play with a controlled straight-set victory (25-17, 25-8, 25-11) over Elizabethtown on Friday evening. 

Coley's 24 kills broke a previous career high of 17 kills, which she set twice before. She ended the match with a .595 hitting percentage and two solo blocks. Lily Podolan hit an efficient .412 with nine kills, while Kennedy Christy (team-high 15 digs, eight kills, two aces) and Audrey Muth (seven kills, one block assist) also provided strong offensive support. 

Olivia Foley tallied a season-high 49 assists with 13 digs and an ace, while Mia Schubert (12 digs, two aces) and Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez (11 digs, two aces) each tallied double-digits for digs.  

As a team, the Eagles ended the match with a .362 hitting percentage and kept Etown to .050. 

The Eagles gained the early advantage with five points to open the set, consistently maintaining the advantage to a 25-17 final tally, hitting at .341 while keeping the Blue Jays to .100. Coley was the primary attacking outlet for Juniata in the first set, hitting double digits with 11 total kills and a .667 hitting percentage. She was responsible for four of Juniata's first six points, while the set ended with four consecutive Coley kills. Muth had four kills in the first set, while Podolan had three.  

Juniata was most dominant in the second set, winning 25-8 and posting a .500 hitting percentage. The consecutive kills from Coley got Juniata to a 6-1 advantage early before the sides briefly traded points. A 10-2 run with three kills each from Coley and Podolan blew the lead wide open to 19-6, with Juniata closing the set on a Muth kill. 

Juniata faced early resistance from the Blue Jays in set three, holding an early 7-6 advantage before going on a 7-1 run with two kills apiece from Podolan and Christy. Elizabethtown earned the next two points, but Juniata collected the next five thanks to two Christy aces, a kill from her, a block from Coley, and a Blue Jays attacking error. Juniata kept the pace to the match point, securing the first Landmark contest of the fall on a Blue Jays setting error. 

Juniata continues their opening weekend of conference play with a trip to Susquehanna on Saturday, with a 6:30 p.m. match start.