Box Score
Juniata 3, Ohio Wesleyan 0
Senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Peters (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) led a balanced Ohio Wesleyan offense, but top-ranked Juniata defeated the Bishops during the first day of the Wid Guisler Invitational, hosted by Juniata College on Friday in Huntington, Pa.
The Eagles, who have lost one set since late September, defeated the Bishops by scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-23.
Senior middle blocker Claire Solberg (Huron) delivered a kill that tied the first set at 2, but Juniata scored the next 7 points, getting a pair of kills from Mackenzie Coley, on the way to a 9-2 advantage. Juniata extended the margin to 21-7 on a Courtney Williams kill, but Ohio Wesleyan rallied, with Solberg contributing 2 kills and a block that brought the Bishops within 24-16 before the Eagles ended the set on a kill by Kiona Rousset-Hernandez.
Ohio Wesleyan raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set with the help of kills by Peters, senior right-side hitter Melissa Murray (Chardon/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin), and junior middle blocker Ava Kutilek (Wilmette, Ill/New Trier). Juniata rallied to even the score at 14 on a Coley kill, and with the score tied at 19, the Eagles scored the final 6 points of the set, closing it out with 3 kills by Coley and back-to-back aces by Kennedy Christy.
The Bishops trailed, 14-10, in the third set before reeling off 6 consecutive points to take the lead, with Kutilek, Peters, and Murray contributing kills. Juniata came back to take a 20-17 lead with the help of Coley and Christy kills, but Ohio Wesleyan pulled within 24-23 as Solberg had a kill, junior right-side hitter Grace Cummings (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) added a kill and a block, and junior setter Olivia Osuna (Orlando, Fla./Phillips) had an ace, but Juniata's Audrey Muth answered with a match-ending kill.
Peters led the Bishops with 6 kills and 15 digs, while Solberg had 5 kills and a team-high 3 blocks.
Osuna finished with 11 assists, raising her career total to 1003 and making her the 12th Bishop to surpass the 1000-assist mark.
Box Score
