Christopher Newport Volleyball, ranked #22 preseason, opened the season on Friday with a pair of contests against #3 Juniata and #4 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Captains dropped a closely contested 3-1 battle in the first match of the day to UWEC but won a thrilling five-set marathon against Juniata in the nightcap. 

UWEC defeated Marymount in straight sets in the second match. The Captains return to the court on Saturday for a match vs. Marymount scheduled for 1 pm, though start time will be fluid based on how long the match prior lasts.

Juniata, one of the historically best programs in D3 history, got off to a hot start as they led 5-2. CNU chipped away at the deficit, winning four of the next six points behind a service error and a trio of kills from Katie Crofford and Riley Garrison. The Eagles kept the Captains at bay for a while longer, but after going up 12-9, CNU scored the next three as an unforced Eagles error was followed up by consecutive kills from Garrison and Crofford, assisted by Sammy Carroll and Katie Piper, to tie the game at 12-12.

Juniata pushed back ahead 16-13, but Garrison took over from there by finishing off a kill from Hope Webb then smashing in two service aces. Megan O'Hara finished off the four-point run to give the Captains an 18-16 lead. After an Abby Oren winner lifted the Captains to an 21-18 advantage, the Eagles picked up the next three points behind a block, an attack error, and a service ace to knot the match at 21-21. 

Crofford stepped up by spiking a point off a Carroll kill to bring the momentum back on the side of CNU. Juniata then responded with consecutive unforced attacking errors, and Rebecca Frey tallied match point on a service ace for the 25-21 set victory.

CNU rode the momentum into the second frame, picking up four straight points and seven of the first 10. Juniata didn't earn a point from their offensive or defensive efforts until their fourth point, but that led to a string of three straight kills to trim the deficit to 10-6. O'Hara punctuated in a point and Crofford picked up a service ace to stem the Juniata momentum, making the score 12-6.

The Eagles gradually began to chip away at the lead as they earned five of the next six points, four coming the way of kills by Marie Gonsar, Victoria Taylor, and Morgan Edwards, to make it just a 13-11 CNU lead. After Christopher Newport collected the following two points, Edwards and Gonsar came up big again and Dejia Danhi hit a service ace to finish off a 4-1 spurt that found the Captains ahead only 16-15.

The rest of the set was played within a two-point margin until set point. With the score tied at 22-22 after a Captains error, Webb set up O'Hara for a kill, then Danhi committed an unforced error to set up set-point with the Captains serving. Carroll stepped up in just her second career match and clinched the set on a service ace to give the Captains a 2-0 lead.

Christopher Newport got off to another strong start in the third set as they led 4-2 and 6-4, but they lead proved to be short-lived as the Eagles went on a tear, winning nine of the next 10 points, ending with three straight Taylor kills and a couple of Danhi blocks. The Captains briefly regrouped with three of the next four markets, but the Eagles continued to lead big at 19-12. 

The Captains didn't give up and put some big game pressure on the Eagles, using a 6-1 run behind strong strikes from Katie Piper and attacking errors from Juniata. The run was capped off by another Carroll ace to draw within two at 20-18. Juniata fought off the comeback attempt and led 24-20, but Crofford and Garrison put together consecutive kills to make it a 24-22 score. But Edwards finished off the set on a kill, assisted by Moira Folan, for the 25-22 win to force a fourth set.

The fourth stanza was as tightly contested for nearly the entire duration. Through 24 points, the score was even at 12-12 and neither team had led my more than two. The Captains mounted the first run of the set as back-to-back kills from Garrison off assists from Carroll and Webb spiked a four-point run that included a Webb ace and a Garrison/O'Hara combo block to lead 16-12. 

Juniata eventually shaved the deficit to two at 19-17, but two unforced Eagles errors and a Wright/Crofford block lifted Christopher Newport to a 22-17 lead. Momentum switched in a hurry as Juniata clawed their way back in to find themselves down only one, 22-21, but the Captains shook it off to go up 24-22 and serving. Facing two match points, Juniata reeled off the next three points on two blocks and a Captains error to go ahead 25-24 for their first lead of the set.

Megan O'Hara hammered in a kill on the next play to knot it at 25-25, but a Taylor kill followed by a Captains attack error gave the Eagles the set to force a decisive winner take all 15-point fifth set.

After surrendering a 22-17 lead in the fourth, all the momentum seemed to be residing with the Eagles, but the Captains were having none of that and wrestled control in the fifth right off the bat. The two teams traded a point apiece, but consecutive Eagles errors were followed by kills from Oren and Crofford to catapult CNU to a 5-1 lead. Juniata edged back to 5-4, but Eagles began to crumble behind unforced errors. The Captains were winners of five of the next six points, four of which were either a service, ball handling, or attack error, to push CNU's advantage to 10-5. 

Following a 11-6 score, the Eagles scored the next three points to draw within two, but Piper and Oren kills, along with Carroll and Webb assists, put the Captains on the precipice of victory at 14-10. Morgan Edwards managed to stave off an Eagles defeat for one more play, but a Carroll set led to Crofford spiking in the game-winning point at 15-11.
Crofford and Garrison led the attack with 14 kills apiece. Crofford also added 14 digs, one block, and one ace for 15.5 points. Garrison tacked on two aces and three blocks for 17.5 points. Piper posted a double-double of 10 kills and 12 digs. O'Hara tallied seven kills to go with two blocks. Oren and Mackenzie Wright combined for 12 kills and five blocks. Carroll and Webb proved to be a formidable duo at the setter spot, combining for 49 assists, six aces, and 21 digs. Rebecca Frey tallied a match-high 30 digs.

Edwards led Juniata with 14 kills, Folan handed out 50 assists. Danhi blocked nine shots, four of the solo variety, and Gingrich tacked on 27 digs.

While the BluGold of #4 Wisconsin Eau-Claire may have won 3-1 in the opening game, it was a tightly contested match with two sets determined decisively and the other two very close.

While UWEC took the first set 25-20, they got off to a shaky start as all five of CNU's points came courtesy of UWEC errors, leading to the score being tied 5-5. The script flipped over the next five points, all five going to the visitors with two being on errors. Following a CNU timeout, the Captains regrouped with Katie Crofford and Katie Piper combining for three kills and the Captains scratched to within two, 11-0. Errors popped back up, one on a bad set and two on attacks, as UWEC reeled off the next four points to push their advantage back to 15-9. With UWEC still leading by six, 19-13, CNU was able to get back within three, 21-18, behind kills from Piper and Crofford along with a couple of UWEC mistakes. The BluGold would end the comeback attempt, winning four of the last six points to take a 25-20 first set win.

The Captains bounced back in decisive fashion in the second frame as they set the tone early and never relinquished. CNU took four of the first five points as Piper, Crofford, and Riley Garrison each recorded a kill. UWEC was able to keep the score close early, trailing just 7-6, but CNU went on the offensive, winning the next four with kills from Piper and Mackenzie Wright to go with a UWEC attack error and a Garrison service ace. After a Captains service error, Wright slammed home a kill then teamed with Abby Oren for a block to push the lead to 13-7, from there, CNU would lead by no fewer than five the rest of the set while leading by as many as 11 on multiple occasions. Piper blasted the set-winning kill off a Sammy Carroll assist for a final score of 25-14.

However, the momentum did not carry over into the third set for CNU. With CNU narrowly trailing 7-5 following another Carroll to Piper connection, the BluGold went on a 12-4 run to go out in front 19-9. The Captains built some momentum by reeling off three consecutive points after trailing 21-12, but CNU only earned one more point the rest of the set as UWEC's Mackenzie Bachmann finished off the third frame with back-to-back service aces for the 25-16 win.

The fourth stanza was a back-and-forth affair with numerous swings in score and momentum. After CNU took the first two points behind a Wright kill and an attack error, UWEC took the next five to go ahead 5-2. CNU responded with their own 5-0 run to lead 7-5 and pushed it to 9-6 to force a BluGold timeout. The timeout seemed to provide some benefit initially as UWEC won the next two points, but CNU eventually built their lead up to four, 14-10 as the front line of Piper, Megan O'Hara, and Garrison each recorded a kill off assists from Hope Webb and Rebecca Frey. 

The tide changed quickly as a Christopher Newport service error followed by a Leah Witzel service ace catapulted a 6-0 run that saw three straight CNU attack errors, two via blocks, as UWEC went up 16-14. The Captains battled back to go up 17-16 and 19-18, but UWEC didn't back down and picked up the next five points to go up 23-19. With their backs against the wall just two points away from defeat, CNU earned the next three points, one off an attack error followed by a Crofford service ace and a Garrison kill from Webb, to draw within just one, 23-22, as UWEC called a timeout. The BluGold got a kill from Abby Volk on the next play out of a timeout, but they committed a service error to make it a 24-23 score. They finished off the match when Volk slammed a kill off an Abbey Pederson helper.

Piper led the Captains in points (13.0), kills (13), and digs (18). Carroll impressed in her collegiate debut, posting a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs. Wright, Crofford, and Garrison each tallied eight kills. Wright tacked on two solo blocks and two assisted blocks, Crofford had 12 digs and two service aces, and Garrison added six digs and an ace. Frey contributed 17 digs with two aces, and Allie Plumlee posted 14 digs and an ace.

Leading the BluGold included Makenzie Bachmann with 13 kills followed by six blocks apiece from Abby Volk and Krista Meyer. Leah Witzel and Abbey Pederson each dished out 16 assists while Taylor Scalia added 27 digs.