HUNTINGDON, PA (November 2, 2022) – The Susquehanna volleyball team faced a tall order on Wednesday evening as they traveled to Huntingdon to face #2 Juniata, who also hold the first seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament. Having lost to the Eagles 3-0 in their regular season matchup, the River Hawks knew an upset would be no simple task. They began on the right foot, coming out strong to win the opening set, but Juniata would storm back and ultimately win the match 3-1 and stymie the upset bid, with set scores of 25-22, 9-25, 13-25, and 16-25.
The first set was a closely fought affair, with the lead changing hands six times and 10 tied scores. With the score knotted at 15 each, the River Hawks would unleash a six-point run, benefiting from a service error and two attack errors from Juniata while adding a service ace by Jessica Sack and kills from Kody Dillon and Keira Roach. SU would then hold on to that advantage despite seeing it narrow, with a kill from Amanda Gore punctuating the set to give Susquehanna the lead.
In stark contrast to the first set, SU would struggle to score while Juniata's efficiency jumped from .243 hitting in the first set to .464 in the second. With the score 3-2 in JC's favor, a five-point run put them in command and six straight points later on all but assured they would take the second set to re-tie the match.
After hitting in the negatives in the second set, Susquehanna got back into the positives with a .167 hitting percentage in the third. However, Juniata would also elevate their play even further, hitting a lofty .542 to continue their run of dominance. With a 6-3 lead, the Eagles unleashed an eight-point run to put SU behind by 11. Susquehanna could not close that hefty gap to anything closer than 10, even with a run of three straight kills from Rosina Esposito, Emily Kowalski, and Gore.
Now down two sets to one, Susquehanna began their fight for survival in the fourth set, sticking closer to the Eagles and tying the score twice in the early goings of the set. However, with the score 17-15 in Juniata's favor, JC would eight of the next nine points, with two kills and a block starting it off before a service error gave Susquehanna their final point of the match. But the Eagles immediately resumed scoring, ending the match with five-straight kills.
Ultimately, the offensive output for the River Hawks was lower than their usual standard, with no player reaching double-digit kills and a team hitting percentage of .142 for the match. SU will still take some positives from the match, with sophomores Emily Kowalski and Amanda Gore being the highest kill-contributors for the team, proving the potential for the future. Kowalski had eight kills, also adding three total blocks, while Gore had seven kills from her position in the middle with no attack errors, adding three blocks of her own. Fellow sophomore Roach had a down night on assists with only 18, but still produced a strong season in her first full campaign as the starting setter, tallying 953 assists on the year.
Despite the semifinal exit, Susquehanna will also be happy to have continued their streak of postseason appearances, playing in their 14th-straight Landmark Conference Tournament.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
