ST. PAUL, Minn.- Riding high off of six consecutive victories, the UNW Volleyball squad took the Ericksen Center court once again on Tuesday night, taking on the Bennies from Saint Benedict. The #18 nationally ranked Eagles took the victory in four sets, improving to 7-1 on the season.
Big crowds inside the Ericksen Center had been the theme throughout the season so far, and that continued on Tuesday. Being spurred on by Eagle nation, UNW got off to a quick start in set one. The Eagles trailed 3-2 early, and that would be the last time they would trail in the first set. Clinging to a 14-13 lead, the home team went on a run. With
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) serving, UNW scored three straight including kills from
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) and
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria). The Bennies would fight back with a point of their own, pulling the score back to 17-14. Then, behind the serving of
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins), the Eagles put up five consecutive points, led by two more kills from
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson). Saint Benedict did their best to fight back, but a
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) ace and a
Caitlyn Pruis (Sioux Falls, SD./Sioux Falls Christian) kill gave the Eagles the 25-17 win in set one.
The second set started the way the first ended with the Eagles remaining firmly in control. Kills from Straub, Glanzer, and
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) gave the Eagles the early 10-4 lead. However, the Bennies refused to go away and pulled back within three points, trailing 10-7. The Eagles would hang onto that slim lead until the middle stages of the set, where an ace from Audrey Spolidoro and a kill from Gabby Heying for the Bennies tied the game at 16. Hardy and Straub answered for the Eagles, each delivering a kill to give the Eagles the 18-16 lead and a chance to go up 2-0 on the visitors. However, the Bennies responded and took control in the late stages of the second set. The visitors would rattle off six straight points to take a 22-18 lead, before closing out the 25-22 second set victory.
Tied at one set a piece, the Eagles turned in their best set of the evening. The game was tied at three in the early stages, and
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) took the serve for Northwestern. She would have it for a long time. Fueled by three kills from Glanzer, and two from Brown, Northwestern would go on a run of seven consecutive points that would give them control in the pivotal third set. The Bennies would not be able to get the deficit below five points, and the Eagles coasted to a 25-12 win in the third set.
The Eagles kept the momentum going in the fourth, and eventually final, set as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead behind the serving of
Lucy Pelzel (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral),
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY), and
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian). With a 14-11 lead, Pelzel went to serve again and performed well for the second time in the set. The Eagles scored four straight, with Glanzer chipping in two kills during this stretch. Northwestern would remain in control down the stretch to win the set 25-16, and secured the 3-1 victory.
Stop us if you've heard this before;
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) was phenomenal. The senior continued her remarkable season tallying 48 assists and contributing 11 digs.
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) continued her trend of anchoring the Eagle defense as she led the way with 27 digs.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) had a nice night as she led UNW in kills with 16, and had a double-double chipping in 13 digs. It was a balanced attack on offense as
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) had 14 kills, and
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) added 11 of her own. It was also a good night for the team's Aces For Joy campaign as Glanzer (2), Straub (2), and Hardy all had aces during the match.
After a long stretch at home to open the season, the Eagles will hit the road for the first time in the 2021 campaign as they travel to San Antonio, Texas this upcoming weekend. The Eagles play Chapman and #3 Trinity (Texas) on Friday to open up their trip. Keep up to date with the team during their road trip by visiting unweagles.com for updates.
