The No. 2 seed University of Scranton volleyball team (17-11) is set to battle No. 1 seed and top-ranked Juniata (28-0) in Landmark Conference Championship action on Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium in Huntingdon.
Saturday's winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the field of 64 to be unveiled in a live selection show on NCAA.com on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Admission to Saturday's match is $7 for adults and $4 for minors ages 10-17 and seniors 62 and older. Children ages nine and under are admitted free of charge, as are all Landmark Conference students, faculty and staff with their school ID.
Tickets will be available purchase at the door and cash will be the only form of accepted payment.
This marks the third straight year that the two teams have met in the Landmark title match with Juniata capturing a 3-0 victory in 2021 and a 3-1 decision in 2022.
In Thursday's 3-0 semifinal victory over Elizabethtown, sophomore Deanna Whelpley (Congers, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) led a balanced Royals' attack with 15 kills and the trio of juniors Sophia Hadjiyane (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn) and Erin Keaveney (Collegeville, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) and senior Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) added 10 apiece.
Freshman Cammi Quirk (Oakland, N.J./Ridgewood)Â and junior Gianna Detorie (Rumford, R.I./Bishop Feehan) combined to help set up the attack as Quirk tallied 22 assists and Detorie had 20.
Defensively, sophomore Maddie Forry (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) led the way with 30 digs and Whelpley recorded nine of her own.
On the season, Whelpley (311 kills, fourth), Margolies (289, sixth) and Keaveney (264, eighth) all rank in the top eight of the Landmark in kills.
Forry sits third with 53 service aces and fourth in digs with 519, while Quirk ranks sixth in assists at 605.
Juniata's Mackenzie Coley leads the conference in hitting percentage at .399 and has 297 kills on the season, which is tops on the team and fifth in the conference. Audrey Muth has added 214 kills for the Eagles.
Olivia Foley leads the Eagles and ranks second in the conference with her 818 assists.
Click the following links for live video and live stats of Saturday's match.
--ROYALS--
