WESTERVILLE, OH- The Brockport Golden Eagles came up short in the NCAA First Round, as they were defeated by Juniata College 3-1 on Friday afternoon. The Golden Eagles, winners of the SUNYAC Championship, closed out the season at 26-9.
The first set saw Brockport come out firing on all cylinders. With Juniata rattled, the Golden Eagles were able to capitalize by taking the first set, 25-11. DeAnna Whittemore-Ortiz had several kills to lead the Brockport charge.
After regrouping, Juniata played up to their nationally-ranked (#22) reputation, winning 25-15. The Eagles finally were able to capitalize on errors made by Brockport and put together streaks of point scoring.
The third set was much of the same story for Juniata. Starting out with the momentum, they were able to keep a constant buffer over Brockport, eventually winning 25-18.
Up 2-1, Juniata looked to close out the game quickly in the fourth set. The Eagles jumped up on Brockport quickly and never looked back. After an emphatic final point, Juniata took the set 25-11.
For the Golden Eagles, DeAnna Whittemore led the team with 12 kills while Noelle Poloncarz added 40 assists. Jamie Schlesinger had 15 digs in the Golden Eagle defensive effort.
Juniata was lead by Victoria Taylor, who registered 11 kills. Alyssa Tavera and Katie Thomas combined for 34 of their team's 41 assists. Defensively, Katie Byrne registered 27 digs.