(Posted November 13, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College hit .410 with no player getting more than five kills as the Eagles overwhelmed D'Youville College, 3-0, in Thursday's First round matchup at the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship Juniata Regional.

Set scores were 25-12, 25-8, and 25-10.

Amber Thomas, Erin Albert, Kristin Noetzel and Michelle Morchesky each had five kills for Juniata, with Albert adding a game-high four blocks. Megan Sollenberger paced the Eagles defensively with 10 digs, and Beth Kozak set the offense with 16 assists to go with her five service aces.

D'Youville (24-11) was able to stretch rallies against Juniata, but struggled at finishing its attacks for kills. The Spartans hit -.012 for the game, and recorded just 18 kills over the three sets, compared to Juniata's .410 attack percentage.

The closest the Spartans came to challenging the Eagles was in the third set, when D'Youville trailed Juniata by only four points at 12-9. A Noetzel kill widened the lead to 13-9, and a Kozak service ace launched a run of 10 straight Juniata points off her serve. Morchesky and Noetzel each recorded three kills during the Juniata run, which ended with the Eagles holding a 23-9 lead.

Side out kills by D'Youville's Falicia Golden and Juniata's Morchesky put the Eagles on game point, and Morchesky clinched the win with one of her two aces in the game.

The Spartans were led by Christine Halter with five kills, while Golden turned up 13 digs to pace D'Youville defensively. Siblea McFarland had 15 assists for the Spartans, who did not record a single service ace or block.

Juniata (32-4) advances to Friday's Regional Semifinals against Carnegie Mellon University. The Tartans advanced following a 3-0 win over Lebanon Valley College. Friday's match will be the second meeting of the season between Juniata and Carnegie Mellon; the Eagles defeated the Tartans, 3-0, earlier this season in Juniata's Wid Guisler Invitational.

-30-

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

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