The John Carroll Volleyball team had an action-packed weekend as they traveled to Huntingdon, PA to face Juniata College.

On Saturday, Sept. 23, the Blue Streaks contended with the No. 1 ranked team in Division III. The Blue and Gold battled against the Eagles in a tight match, but fell through losing in four sets. The final scores were as follows: 25-23, 15-25, 22-25, 12-25.

John Carroll started their match off strong going on a seven-point run in the first half. The Blue and Gold put themselves in a secure lead, bringing the score to 20-17. The Eagles attempted to bring their dominance to the court, but the Blue Streaks kept their momentum going to win the first set 25-23.

Jennifer Follmer ‘24, Kendra Dziubinski ‘26 and Jessica Liddle ‘25 all contributed to the win with their standout kills, helping the Blue Streaks build confidence for the remainder of the match.

The beginning of the second set proved to be a neck-and-neck start. Both teams wrestled to a 9-9 draw, but Juniata found some change in their energy to bring themselves to a seven-point lead. Juniata earned a 20-25 win in set two, as John Carroll found it difficult to fight back toward the end.

The Blue Streaks kept the third set close against their highly-ranked opponent. Marissa Lynch ‘25 had a standout performance as she clocked a needed kill for the team, keeping the Blue and Gold within a five-point deficit. John Carroll attempted to soar as they did in the first set, but couldn’t keep their power and ultimately fell in the third set with another Eagles win, 25-22.

The match was coming to an end, but the Blue and Gold still fought hard with Juniata, snagging an early lead in the fourth set. However, It was a tough ending for John Carroll, as the fourth and final set ended with an Eagles 25-12 win.

“When we found out we were playing the No. 1ranked team in the division, it was all excitement from our whole team,” said Follmer. “We went into the game with a positive and excited mindset and it showed when we took off a set from them…Juniata only lost three sets this whole year and to be able to say we took one from them shows how strong of a team we are.

“This weekend we saw a lot of good stuff from our team but it also helped us to narrow down what we needed to work on…Obviously, the goal is an OAC championship, and I believe we have the skills to get there.”

The Streaks grabbed a victory against Penn State Behrend last night to get back into the win column. Now, John Carroll heads to Wilmington for an OAC matchup on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 12:00 p.m.