ST. PAUL, Minn. – No. 4 University of Northwestern hosted No. 14 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the Ericksen Center on Friday night for a Second Round match of the 2022 NCAA DIII Women's Volleyball Championship at the St. Paul Regional. The Eagles swept the Pointers in the Round of 32 to improve to 32-2 on the season and dance into the Sweet 16.
In the first set, UNW leaped out to an early 7-2 lead. The Pointers then rallied to go up 8-7 with a six-point run. Northwestern responded with a three-point run, but Stevens Point answered right back with a three-point run of their own to stay up 11-10. The Eagles then took four in a row to retake the lead and go up by three at 14-11. The Pointers proceeded to fire off another six-point run to regain the lead and go up by three at 17-14. The two teams traded wins back and forth for the next seven points to bring it to 20-18 with UWSP still in the lead. At that point, a Pointer attack error cut UNW's deficit down to one, trailing 19-20. Another set of four points went by with both teams trading back and forth until a
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) kill tied the match at 22-22. UWSP got a kill to go back up 23-22, but UNW won the next two points to reach set point up 24-23. Stevens Point staved off defeat in the set on two match points, but the third time was the charm as an
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) kill sealed a 27-25 set win for the Eagles.
After that marathon opening set, the momentum of the match started to shift to Northwestern in set two. An early three-point run put UNW up 7-3. Later, another three-point run saw UNW go up 14-7. The set reached 19-11 with the Eagles leading, at which point the Pointers fired off four in a row to cut their deficit to four points down 19-15. UNW responded with a three-point run, though UWSP answered by taking five of the next six points. Still leading 23-20, the Eagles closed out the set by winning the next two points to take a 25-20 second-set victory and go up 2-0 in the match.
In the third, UNW won four in a row early to go up 8-3. The Eagles later increased that five-point lead with a four-point run, going up 16-7. Northwestern then proceeded to win four of the next six to go up by 11 points at 20-9. The Pointers strung together three in a row to cut their deficit down to eight, but the two teams went on to trade the next seven points back and fourth until Northwestern reached match point up 24-15. A Pointer attack error cemented the 25-15 set win for UNW to complete the 3-0 sweep in the Regional Semifinal match.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) led the Eagles with 10 kills on .333 hitting.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) had 16 assists and
Felicia Luther (Victoria, Minn./Southwest Christian) following right behind with 15 in the match. Straub, Schmidt,
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls), and
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) each had two total blocks for UNW.
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) had 28 digs for an incredible 9.33 per set average.
Up next, No. 4 Northwestern will host No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for a Regional Final match on Saturday night, November 12, at 5:00 P.M. at the Ericksen Center. The winner of that contest will advance to the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania next Wednesday, November 16.
