Box Score

INDIANA, PA – After losses in each of the first two sets, IUP stormed back with a convincing 25-10 win in set three, propelling the Crimson Hawks to two more victories in a 3-2 comeback win over Juniata in non-conference women's volleyball action on Tuesday night at the KCAC.

Morgan Cerveny (Richfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) and Lisa Kissell (Greensburg, Pa. /Greensburg Salem) led the way with 15 kills apiece while Lauren Hester (State College, Pa. /State College) added 12 for the IUP offense.

With the win, the Crimson Hawks snapped a five-match losing streak against Juniata, a traditional Division III power. IUP's last victory over the Eagles came on September 29 of 2001 with a 3-0 victory. The Crimson Hawks improve to 14-6 on the season, snapping a three-match losing streak.

Dropping the first two sets 25-19 and 28-26, IUP got the 15-point set three win followed by victories of 25-23 and 15-12.

Starting in the third set, IUP found itself deadlocked at 4-4 early before scoring six of the next seven points to take a 10-5 lead. After a Juniata timeout, the Eagles scored a pair of points to narrow the gap, but IUP capitalized on errors to score five consecutive points and eight of the next nine after kills by Hester, Cerveny and Kissell.

In the lead 18-8, the Crimson Hawks allowed just two more Juniata points, as IUP closed out the huge win with kills from Aubree Frye (Indiana/Indiana), Kissell and a final one from Ellen Fordon (Chicago, IL/Lincoln-Way East) to seal the win and start the comeback.

IUP used that momentum to start the fourth set, scoring the first seven points to take a big advantage. After each team traded a pair of points, Juniata started making its comeback, scoring seven consecutive points to tie the set at 9-9.

The Crimson Hawks countered with three straight of their own before Juniata tried to regain control of the match by scoring eight of the next nine points to take a 17-13 lead.

Both teams then went back-and-forth, with the Eagles holding a 19-15 lead before IUP got back into the set. Kills by Hester and Cerveny close the gap to two and after a point by Juniata gave the Eagles 20, the Crimson Hawks exploded for six straight points, getting two more huge kills from Cerveny to take a 23-20 lead.

The Eagles wouldn't go away, scoring three of the next four to make it a one-point match at 24-23 but Kissell would put it away as IUP took it to the final set.

IUP again got out to an early lead in the fifth, going on top 3-0 before the Eagles soared back with five straight points to take a 5-3 lead. Both teams again went back and forth, tying it at 5-5 and again at 7-7 before the Crimson Hawks took a 10-8 lead after back-to-back kills by Kissell.

Juniata came back to tie the score at 12-12 but the match was IUP's to win, getting a kill from Hester, one from Frye, and then a final one from Hester to close out the match victory.

Meghan Schneider (Lake Geneva, Wis. /Big Foot) added five kills while Sarah Alman (Indiana/Indiana) accumulated 45 assists while adding four kills. Schneider led the charge defensively, totaling seven blocks while Cerveny had six and Fordon five. Kelly Barnes (Inver Grove Heights, MN/Simley) had a team-high 28 digs to lead five players in double-digits. Alman added 23 digs while Joie Hrapla (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Bishop Canevin) and Frye had 14 and Ericka Lentz (Reading/Holy Name) had 11.

The Crimson Hawks return to conference play this weekend when they travel to Slippery Rock for a PSAC East-West crossover, facing Millersville and Shippensburg on Friday while facing East Stroudsburg and Lock Haven on Saturday.