SELINSGROVE, Pa. – In front of a packed and loud crowd at Houts Gymnasium, the Susquehanna women's volleyball team pushed No. 8 Juniata to four sets in the Landmark Conference opener for both squads. Unfortunately, the Eagles came away with the 3-1 victory.

SU (13-6) took the first set 25-22 before falling 17-25, 12-25, 21-25 over the final three sets.

Morgan Whiteman (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity) led SU with 12 kills while Maggie O'Hearn (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) tallied 31 assists and five digs. The team was active on the net with Hayley Dunkel (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) finishing with six block assists and Leanna Carvin (Walnutport, Pa./Northampton Area) adding two solo blocks and two block assists. Erin Byrne (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) racked up three block assists, one solo block, three kills and six digs.

Susquehanna jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set and went ahead 8-4 on a Juniata attacking error before the Eagles rallied to tie it at 10. Another Eagles (13-2) error made it 11-10 Crusaders and they never relinquished that lead. Juniata closed it to a two-point gap (24-22) late in the set but a Marykate Sherkness (Treskow, Pa./Marian Catholic) kill ended the set and put SU ahead 1-0.

The second set did not go as smoothly for the Crusaders. They kept it close for the majority of the match, at one point trailing by just one, 14-13, but the Eagles scored the final four points of the match to go on to the 25-17 victory.

SU struggled in set three, down by 12 (19-7) before ultimately falling 25-12.

Susquehanna was not ready to give in just yet and the fourth set was a battle with the crowd loudly behind its Crusaders. Juniata led by five, 12-7, early in the action and went ahead by nine, 22-13, with just three points needed to close out the match.

The Crusaders rallied, though, scoring the next five points for a 22-18 score. Unfortunately, the Eagles did not let SU pull any closer and won the match on a service ace.

Susquehanna continues Landmark play this weekend with matches on Sept. 27 against Moravian and Elizabethtown with Juniata serving as the host institution.