MORRIS, Minn. – No. 3 University of Northwestern Volleyball took on the University of Minnesota Morris on Thursday night on the road for the Eagles' third conference contest of the season. UNW earned a 3-0 victory over the Cougars to remain undefeated through 12 matches this season.
In the opening set, the Eagles jumped ahead to 12-5 for a seven-point lead. Aiming for an upset, the Cougars proceeded to go on a 13-4 run to take an 18-16 lead. UNW had a three-point run to retake the lead, but Morris answered with back-to-back points to go up 20-19. At that point, Northwestern rallied with six points in a row to take the first set 25-20.
Morris, having pushed the Eagles in the opener, continued to keep pace in the second set. A back-and-forth start to the set reached a 9-8 UNW lead. The Cougars then won seven of the next eight points to go up 15-10 on the Eagles. Northwestern rallied by taking 11 of the next 12 points to go up by five at 21-16. Morris won three in a row to get within two at 21-19, but UNW won four of the next six to take the set 25-21.
After two closely contested sets, the Eagles found their rhythm in the third set. UNW took a seven-point lead up 9-2. After that, the closest the Cougars were able to cut down the deficit to was five points. The Eagles took set three 25-12 to complete the three-set sweep and earn their third conference win of the season.
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) led the Eagles attack with 13 kills on .296 hitting and added two block assists in the match.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) followed right behind with 12 kills on .273 hitting to go with six digs on defense.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) and
Hannah Gadient (Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue) combined for 37 assists (12.3 per set) in the match, recording 24 and 13 respectively.
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) had 22 digs in the match.
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) followed with 16 for the Eagles.
Up next for No. 3 Northwestern is a trip to St. Joseph to battle the College of Saint Benedict Bennies at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday, September 24.