Eagles Mute Muskies, Beat Baldwin Wallace to Move to 19-0 on the Year

BEREA, Ohio- The #1 Juniata women's volleyball team picked up two more victories as they defeated Muskingum (25-16, 25-16, 25-12) and Baldwin Wallace (25-18, 25-17, 25-18), Saturday afternoon at Urspring Gymnasium.  

The Muskies played the Eagles even early in the match, trailing by one at 10-9. A Mackenzie Coley kill, two Muskingum errors, an ace from Mia Schubart, and a ball-handling error had JC up 16-9. The Muskies managed to get within four at 20-16, and the Eagles responded by closing the match on a 5-0 run, capped by a kill from Lily Podolan to end set one 25-16.  

Set two saw the Eagles score eight straight, which included half the points coming on Kennedy Christy kills as the Eagles led 8-1. The Muskies eventually closed within one at 17-16, but again Juniata rattled off eight straight, with four coming on Coley kills and a Mia Schubert ace to end set two, 25-16.  

Juniata tallied the first 12 points of the third set and cruised to a 25-12 victory to defeat the Muskies.  

Coley amassed 13 kills (.520), an assist, a dig, and two solo blocks, while Courtney Williams was an efficient five for eight with three digs and two block assists. Christy totaled nine kills while hitting .444 to go with nine digs and an assist. Schubart continued her strong contributions from the service line, as she had six aces to go with her match-high 18 digs.  

In the second match against Baldwin Wallace, midway through the first set, the Yellow Jackets hovered within three at 14-11. Kills from Coley and Christy, a Schubert ace, and a Yellow Jacket attack error made it 18-11. Later with the score at 24-15 as the Eagles held set point, Baldwin Wallace managed to fight off three of them before Audrey Muth ended the set with a kill, 25-18.  

After leading as many as eight early, Juniata found their lead whittled down to two at 16-14, with Coley's two kills and an ace from Christy pushing the lead back to five. The Eagles held Baldwin Wallace at arm's length the rest of the way, with two kills from Podolan ending the second set, 25-17.  

A 7-0 run early in the third set put the Eagles in the driver's seat, and a crucial four straight points late, with the score at 20-17, capped by a Sophia Repholz ace, gave JC match point. Williams ended the match with her fourth kill, 25-18.  

Podolan totaled a match-high 13 kills (.393) to go with three digs, while Olivia Foley amassed 26 assists, 12 digs, and a kill. Muth contributed seven kills (.400) with two digs, an assist, a solo block, and a block assist.  

The Eagles, now 19-0, will travel to take on Drew next Friday at 6:00.