(Posted November 14, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Senior outside hitter Amber Thomas put down 14 kills on 28 swings to lead Juniata College to a 3-0 win over Carnegie Mellon, in Friday night's second Regional Semifinal game at the Division III Women's Volleyball Juniata Regional in Huntingdon, Pa.

Set scores were 26-24, 25-15, and 25-11.

Carnegie Mellon (23-16) held a lead throughout much of the first set, with Juniata finally overtaking the Tartans at 19-18 following four straight points off the service of Michelle Morchesky. The set remained at most a two-point affair through 24-24, until back-to-back kills by Erin Albert and Paige Johnston gave Juniata the win in the lengthy set.

Set two remained a close net affair, until a 7-1 Juniata run left the Eagles with a 17-9 lead. Thomas had three kills during that stretch, while Erin Albert had a kill and a block assist. Juniata carried at least a six-point lead the rest of the way, with a pair of Tartan attack errors handing the win to the Eagles.

Juniata (32-5) jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the third set, which the Eagles controlled from start to finish.

Albert finished with 12 kills while hitting .556, to go with three total blocks. Beth Kozak set the offense with 28 assists, and Megan Sollenberger logged a game-high 20 digs.

Carnegie Mellon was paced by Caroline Size with 10 kills, with Aislinn McCloskey tacking on nine kills. Samantha Carter had 25 assists, and Cameron Griffin turned up 10 digs for the Tartans.

Juniata advances to Saturday's Regional Championship game against Eastern University, who defeated Salisbury University in Friday's earlier semifinal. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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