(Posted October 8, 2010)

WHITEWATER, Wis. -- On the heels of having its 92-match home winning streak snapped on Tuesday night by Clarion University, the Juniata College women's volleyball team was looking for some redemption against 11th-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater in Friday night's last match of the day at the UW-Whitewater Invitational.

The Eagles managed to rally from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match, but dropped the decisive fifth set in a 3-2 loss to the Warhawks at the Kris Russell Arena. Set scores for UW-Whitewater were 25-16, 25-22, 19-25, 16-25, and 15-12.

Juniata actually outhit Whitewater, .250 to .202, and outblocked the Warhawks, 10.0 to 6.0, over the course of the match. However UW-Whitewater bested Juniata in the kills department, finishing with 61 kills led by Caitlin Hogan's 15 terminations.

The Eagles, who recorded 54 kills, were paced by junior outside hitter Drew Barnhart (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) with 15 kills on 35 swings, finishing with a .314 hitting percentage. Freshman pin hitter Rachelle Wiegand (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) had 11 kills while hitting .243, and senior middle Kristin Noetzel (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) logged 10 kills to go with her four blocks.

Junior libero Libby Morrison (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School) sprawled for 27 digs, while sophomore opposite Kelsey Fuller (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) had 13 digs. Fuller also tallied three blocks and eight kills, but hit .071 on the night.

Senior setter Steph Strauss (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) had six kills and hit .385 while middle Ashley Schnader (Reinholds, Pa./Garden Spot) tallied four kills, rounding out the players with kills for the Eagles. Strauss set 27 assists for Juniata, while reserve setter Courtney Greenberg (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) had 12.

The Warhawks (17-5) also had double-digit kill performances from Katy Krajnick (14 kills) and Sofia Sanchez (10 kills). UW-Whitewater extended rallies with its defense, finishing with 85 digs to Juniata's 64.

The loss gives Juniata (18-3) back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since October 26, 2001, when the Eagles lost consecutive matches to Wittenberg University and Trinity University (Texas) at Trinity's tournament in San Antonio, Texas.

Juniata returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 9, when it faces 16th-ranked Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 12:00 pm (CT) in day two action at the Whitewater Invitational. The Eagles will then head to Kenosha, Wis., to take on Carthage College at 7:00 p.m. (CT).

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.