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Juniata captures 30th consecutive conference championship with 3-0 win over Susquehanna
Story and Photo Courtesy of the Juniata Athletics Site
HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- For the 30th straight year, Juniata College
women's volleyball will put a conference championship plaque on the
wall of the Kennedy Sports + Recreation, winning the 2010 Landmark
Conference championship on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Susquehanna
University.
Set scores for the Eagles were 25-11, 25-10, and 25-7.
Juniata (30-5) hit .393 against Susquehanna (25-12), led by middle
hitter Kristin Noetzel (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) and
outside hitter Drew Barnhart (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) with 11
kills each, while opposite Kelsey Fuller (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion)
put away eight terminations. Noetzel also logged six blocks against
the Crusaders, part of Juniata's tally of 9.0 team blocks.
Senior setter Steph Strauss (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) logged 29
assists while running the efficient Juniata offense.
The Eagles' Libby Morrison (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal
School) engineered Juniata's final set bruising of the Crusaders.
With Morrison serving, Juniata rattled off 12 straight points on
its way to the set three win. Two of the points came off Morrison
service aces, while Noetzel tallied a block and four kills,
including the match-winning point.
The second set proved to be a little foreshadowing of the third
set, as Juniata broke open a 12-8 score with three straight points
with Taylor Harpster (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola)
serving. The Harpster-led run, which began with an ace by the
freshman, launched a 13-2 run by the Eagles to finish the set. A
Susquehanna attack error off Strauss' serve clinched the set two
win.
Susquehanna outside hitter Lindsey Jankiewicz finished with five
kills, leading a Crusader squad that hit -.014 for the match.
Libero Kelly O'Brien turned up 12 digs for Susquehanna, while Emily
Carson was one of two players with three kills and also recorded
two blocks.
In the tournament semifinals earlier on Saturday, Juniata notched
a 3-0 win over Moravian College, winning by set scores of 25-17,
25-18, and 25-10.
Fuller led the Juniata hitters with 11 kills while hitting .429 on
21 swings, while adding two blocks. Barnhart and Amanda Schmidt
(Boswell, Pa./North Star) each finishing with seven terminations.
The Strauss-guided offense hit .274 versus the Greyhounds, with
Strauss setting 24 assists.
Noetzel logged five kills with two blocks, and Courtney Greenberg
(Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) set eight assists and served jup
three aces.
The win gave Juniata the Landmark Conference's automatic qualifier
into the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship. The
Eagles will learn their Regional destination and opposition when
the full 63-team field for the tournament is announced on Monday,
Nov. 8, at 11:00 a.m.
