Box Score ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The University of Scranton volleyball team (25-6, 5-2 Landmark) battled hard for all three sets, but fell to the No. 9 Juniata Eagles (26-1, 7-0 Landmark) by a score of 3-0 in Landmark Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Thompson Gymnasium in Elizabethtown.
Despite the loss, the Royals secured the No. 3 seed in next week's Landmark Conference Tournament and will make the trip right back to Elizabethtown to take on the second seeded Blue Jays in Wednesday's semifinal at 7 p.m.
In the first set following an attacking error by Juniata, the Royals trailed 18-15 but the Eagles took the next three points en route to the 25-20 win. A kill from freshman Maddie Orth (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) gave Scranton a slight 16-15 advantage in the second set before the Eagles put together another late run to take the second set, 25-18. The Royals rallied from an early hole in the third set and got the lead back to 20-16 before Juniata secured the win.
Senior Eryn Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Westridge School for Girls) registered eight kills to lead the way offensively for head coach Jamie Spangler's squad, while sophomore Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) and junior Carah Vitkus (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) had six apiece. Junior Caileigh Cox (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) registered 25 assists for the Royals on the afternoon and senior Molly Dunfee (King of Prussia, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) had a team-high 11 digs to go along with nine digs from Margolies.
Victoria Taylor recorded 14 kills in the win for Juniata.
The Royals will look to avenge a 3-1 loss to ETown back on Oct. 20 in the afore-mentioned semifinal matchup on Wednesday. This marks the 11th consecutive season that Scranton has advanced to the Landmark Conference postseason.
--ROYALS--
