(Posted October 30, 2010)

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Juniata College women's volleyball closed out its 2010 regular season and prepared for its post-season march with a pair of wins Saturday afternoon at the Wittenberg Fall Classic.

Juniata (28-5) opened the day with a 3-0 win over Carnegie Mellon, taking the match by set scores of 25-23, 25-21, and 25-20.

The Eagles went on to post a 3-1 victory over Mount St. Joseph out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, with set scores of 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, and 25-19.

On the heels of Friday night's 3-1 loss to the host squad from Wittenberg University, Juniata head coach Larry Bock let his youngsters take the court Saturday morning against Carnegie Mellon.

Freshman outside hitter Taylor Harpster (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) led Juniata with 12 kills on 29 swings for a .310 hitting percentage versus the Tartans, while sophomore Sarah McMichael (Norristown, Pa./Methacton) notched 11 kills while hitting .269 from the pin.

"Taylor had a big day for us today," said Bock. "She put down some big kills at some pivotal times in the match."

Freshman Courtney Lydick (McKean, Pa./General McLane) tacked on nine kills with three blocks, while sophomore middle Madison Petsos (Portsmouth, Va./Norfolk Collegiate) had six kills. Rookie Courtney Greenberg (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) logged 36 assists while running a Juniata offense that hit .188 for the match. Four players posted double-digit digs, led by freshman Rachelle Wiegand (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Township) with 15.

Carnegie Mellon (11-18) hit just .137 for the match, and did not have a player reach double-figures in kills. Senna Parsa and Aislinn McCloskey had seven kills for the Tartans, while setter Kerry Hennessey had 21 assists. CMU did outblock Juniata, 10.0 to 5.0, led by Parsa, Olivia Mora and Maddie Rosnick with five blocks each.

Juniata's starters returned to the court for the Eagles against Mount St. Joseph, a squad that entered the match with a 20-9 record and ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Region.

The Eagles hit .301 versus the Lions, its best hitting percentage against a non-Landmark opponent since the Rose-Hulman match back on September 17, with five players recording 10-or-more kills.

Opposite Kelsey Fuller (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) finished with 13 kills on 29 swings for a .345 attack clip, while outside hitter Drew Barnhart (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) put down 12 terminations on 34 swings.

Senior middle Kristin Noetzel (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Regional), junior middle Amanda Schmidt (Boswell, Pa./North Star) and senior setter Steph Strauss (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) all had 10 kills, with Noetzel tacking on four blocks. Strauss had 45 assists, and finished just shy of her second triple-double of the season with nine digs.

Junior Libby Morrison (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School) sprawled for 30 digs, while Fuller turned up 20 digs.

Harpster also saw some floor time against Mount St. Joseph, and put down five kills on 13 swings with a .231 attack percentage.

The Lions (20-10) were paced by Jamie Grauvogel with 20 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Lindsay Waldman had 31 assists setting an MSJ squad that hit .130 for the night.

Juniata now awaits its opponent for the Landmark Conference Tournament semifinals, following Wednesday night's quarterfinal match between Goucher College and Moravian College. That semifinal match will take place Saturday, Nov. 6, at 11:00 a.m. at the Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center, with the winner advancing to Saturday night's championship match at 7:00 p.m. Susquehanna University will face either Catholic University or the University of Scranton in the other semifinal match.

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