(Posted October 13, 2006)

Juniata 3, Millikin 0 Juniata 3, LaVerne 1 BLOOMINGTON, Ill. â?? The top-ranked Juniata College women\'s volleyball team continues to take one the challenge of squaring off against other highly-ranked teams, and each time this season the Eagles have come out on top. That was the case again on Friday as the Eagles claimed a 3-1 victory over the third-ranked University of LaVerne, and also posted a 3-0 win over Millikin at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational. With the wins, Juniata improved to 24-1 on the season. Juniata dropped game one to LaVerne before rallying to claim the 29-31, 30-14, 30-14, 30-18 victory. It Juniata\'s fifth victory of the season over a team ranked in the CSTV/AVCA Division III Top-25. Juniata opened the day with a 30-25, 30-12, 30-17 triumph over Millikin. Against LaVerne Amber Thomas (Conestoga Valley/Ephrata) paced the offense with 17 kills and only three attack errors. She also had 11 digs for Juniata\'s defensive effort which saw five different players reach double figures in digs. Megan Sollenberger (Cumberland Valley/Mechanicsburg) led the effort with 16 while Beth Kozak (Huntingdon/Huntingdon) had 13, Molly Sollenbger (Cumberland Valley/Mechanicsburg) had 11 and Jessica Ritchey (Greencastle-Antrim/Greencastle) had 10. Seniors Stephanie Kines (Towson/Towson, Md.) and Rachael Schatz (West Perry/Elliotsburg) both played big roles in the offense as well as each player produced 15 kills. Kines also added six blocks to lead the Eagles. Erin Albert (Philipsburg-Osceola/Philipsburg) was also in double figures with 12 finishes. Juniata hit .333 as a team in the match as the Eagles committed just 19 attack errors overall. Ritchey, Kozak, Molly Sollenberger and Albert all helped control LaVerne\'s offense as each finished with three aces. Against Millikin Kines was the only Juniata player in double figures in kills as she pouned out 11 finishes with a .625 hitting percentage. Thomas, Aly Pompeani (Hopewell/Aliquippa) and Paige Johnston (Hempfield/Lancaster) each added five kills for the Blue and Gold. Kines led the defensive effort at the net once again with three blocks in the match. Megan Sollenbeger led the team with 17 digs and three aces, while Molly Sollenberger had 12 digs and three aces. Juniata will wrap-up competition at the two-day event on Saturday when the Eagles take on University of Wisconsin-Platteville and host Illinois Wesleyan. ###

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