MATCH LEADERS Kills: Serena Bountour (12); Jennifer Gardikas (10) Digs: Katya Khmelnitskaya (11) Assists: Katya Khmelnitskaya (28) Kills: Stephanie Kines (11), Katie Charles (11); Katie Laucks (10) Digs: Tara McMinn (18) Assists: Carli Dale (38)

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Juniata volleyball team is no stranger to NCAA Division III Tournament play.

To say the Eagles are tournament veterans would be an understatement.

Juniata has appeared in 24 straight national tournament, reaching the NCAA national semifinals a whopping 19 times — including this season.

Getting to the national tournament semifinals has become old hat for the Eagles — winning a national title, however, hasn't.

Twenty-four NCAA appearances, 19 national semifinal trips, four national runner-up trophies — but not one national championship.

That, the Eagles vow, is about to change.

Juniata took the first step toward that elusive NCAA title Friday evening, dispatching of New York University 3-0 (30-21, 30-24, 30-19i) at the Mayo Civic Center Auditorium.

Now, all the stands between the Eagles and title No. 1 is Washington (Mo.) University — the defending national champions and 3-0 (30-25, 30-15, 30-25) victors over the University of La Verne in Friday's other semifinal match.

"We executed very well — we passed and served well," said Juniata coach Larry Bock. "The bottom line — we played extremely well against a great team."

And, Bock admitted, the nation's top-ranked team is going to have to play even better Saturday evening against Washington U.

"We had T-shirts made up that said, 'hits us with your best shot.' We know (Washington U.) is going to be gunning for us — we're going to do everything we can to win," said Katie Laucks, who helped the Eagles defeat the Bears, 3-0, in the teams' only regular-season meeting this season. "We're a team, we all want the same thing — and that's to finish the season No. 1"

"It's going to be a match of two teams that have endured in a very positive way," said Bock of Saturday's championship showdown vs. the Bears. "I know our team is peaking and I know theirs is, too."

It's hard to imagine the Eagles playing any better than they did against NYU, as Juniata hit .312 as a team, getting 11 kills from both Stephanie Kines and Katie Charles. Katie Laucks chipped in 10 kills and Carli Dale tallied 38 assists and 10 digs as Juniata improved to 36-3.

Juniata wasted little time taking control against the Violets, scoring five of the game's first six points and never looking back. The Eagles led by as many as eight, 24-15 in winning the opener 30-21. Game 2 was more of the same as Juniata scored 16 of the game's final 28 points, pulling away from a 14-14 tie to win 30-25.

Juniata then iced the win — and secured a berth against Washington U. — with a 30-19 Game 3 win in which Juniata scored the game's first three points, jumping to a 20-11 advantage and finishing with a 10-8 run to secure the Eagles' 19th straight win.

"They served us well and our passing wasn't on — that stopped our offense," said NYU coach Ed Caesar, whose team dropped to 40-6 overall. "Once we lost that second game, it looked like we let up a bit.

"From what I saw, Juniata played a perfect match."