ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 17 nationally ranked University of Northwestern volleyball team broke out the brooms again on Tuesday as the Eagles swept both the Loras Duhawks and the No. 25 ranked Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties. With the wins, UNW improved to 22-3 overall on the season.
In the first match against Loras, the Eagles started off slow, falling behind 11-6 in the opening set. Northwestern answered, however, with five consecutive points to even the set at 11-11. The Eagles later held just a one-point lead up 17-16, but then went on an 8-1 run to close out the set 25-17.
Set two saw the Eagle take control early as, after falling behind 5-4, they won nine of the next ten to go up 13-6. The Duhawks answered with a three-point run to make it 14-10, and the two battled back-and-forth the rest of the way, but the Eagles stayed the course and won the set 25-19.
The third and final set saw the Eagle offense come alive, starting with a 5-0 run to open the set. Loras and Northwestern then exchanged points through 10-5 until UNW threw another haymaker with a six-point run, going up 16-5. The Eagles had another five-point run later in the set, and ultimately flew to a 25-10 victory to win the match in straight sets.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) was on fire in the match, hitting .500 with 20 kills for a 6.67 per set average.
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) complimented Glanzer with 13 kills of her own on .321 hitting, adding 12 digs for a double-double. Northwestern hit .307 to the Duhawks' .155 in the match.
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) averaged an unreal 14.33 assists per set, recording 43 in the match.
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) led the Eagles with 21 digs in the match.
The second match of the day was perhaps the most anticipated, as the No. 17 team in the country faced off against the No. 25 ranked team.
The first set saw the No. 17 Eagles jump ahead early and endure rallies by the No. 25 Gusties to take the set. UNW broke a 5-5 tie with seven in a row to go up 12-5. The Gusties battled back to make it 14-11, but UNW again rattled off a multiple-point run, this time of five, to go up 19-11. Gustavus rallied once more and got within three points at 22-19, but Northwestern closed their window with a three-point run to take the set 25-19.
The second set was again hard fought. Neither team managed more than a three-point run through the first half, until the Gusties got four in a row when trailing 13-11 to go up 15-13. The Eagles, however, answered right back with four straight points of their own to retake the lead at 17-15. The remainder of the set saw Northwestern gain control and close out the set with a 25-20 win.
The third set saw the Eagles slam the door shut with a 25-12 win. Two-runs of five points highlighted the set for UNW, and the Eagles cruised to a 25-12 set win to complete the sweep.
Three Eagles each led the team with 11 kills in the match. Of those three, Glanzer hit .292 and added 17 digs for a double-double, Straub hit .250 with 11-digs for a double-double, and
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) hit .296 with eight digs.
Schwitters averaged 12.67 assists per set with a total of 38 for Northwestern. Schroyer led UNW with 24 digs.
Up next for No. 17 Northwestern is a return to conference play this Friday at home as UNW takes on UW-Superior at 7 p.m. in the Ericksen Center.
