Young Juniata volleyball team falls to Bearcats in opener of D6 post season

By Kenny Varner Jr.
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: October 29, 2021

By Kenny Varner

MIFFLINTOWN -Punch!

Counter punch!

Like two boxers in a heavyweight championship bout, the Huntingdon Bearcats went up against an upstart Juniata Lady Indians team in the opening round of the District 6 playoffs Thursday.

Both sets of fans got their money’s worth as the game was full of long volley, natural reaction saves, digs, kills and spikes despite the final outscoring going to the Bearcats 3-0. The Lady ‘Cats won 25-19, 25-18 and 25-11.

With the win, Huntingdon advances to the next round while the season quietly ended for the Tri-Valley League runner ups, in Juniata.

In the first game, Juniata came out fighting as it opened with a 6-1 start.

Leading the way for the Indians was Autumn Graybill who opened with four consecutive service points. In that run, the Juniata side kept things moving right along.

But with the score 8-3, the Bearcats made their move as they outscored Juniata 12-1 to pull ahead 14-9.

Leading in the service point department in that run was Lily Fiscus who tallied 10 consecutive service points.

But Juniata would battle its way back into game cutting 14-11 on a block by Graybill and a service point by Imarilis Mercado. The Juniata senior was a big part of the Indians run. She was tough inside posting clutch digs and numerous assists to her teammates.

Huntingdon added two points after the short run by Mercado, upping the lead to 17-13.

From there the two teams battled back and forth, going toe-to-toe until Huntingdon pulled out the 25-19 victory.

Big runs proved to be a huge factor on the night.

In game two, the Bearcats opened up early posting a 3-2 lead until Kendal Carlin pounded out seven consecutive service points, putting Huntingdon out with the big 10-2 advantage.

However, Juniata was able to cut the lead to 12-7 with clutch serving from MacKenzie Bennett and great front row play by Josie Abram and Alexia Frontz.

Huntingdon tried to keep its distance but the Indians had other plans as they were able to keep it to a 17-13 contest before the Bearcats would get hot again.

From there, Huntingdon would take game number two finishing on an 8-to-5 run, taking the contest.

In the final game, despite the Indians best efforts, the Bearcats wore down Juniata and went home with the 25-11 contest.