ST. PAUL, Minn.- #4 University of Northwestern Volleyball is in the home stretch of an incredibly busy Homecoming week. The Eagles took on Crown College and Wartburg College in a doubleheader on Friday night inside the Ericksen Center. UNW will play two more games on Saturday with one of those taking place inside the Ericksen Center. That Saturday home game will mark Homecoming Saturday and UNW Volleyball will be holding its 50 Years of UNW Volleyball Celebration. There was a group of alumni who rolled into town early and attended Friday night's games. The nationally ranked Eagles put on a show for the alumni and other Eagle supporters as they defeated Crown 3-0 in the opener and Wartburg 3-0 in the finale.
Game One
It was a conference game that kicked off Friday's doubleheader for the Eagles when they hosted the Polars from Crown College. It was a great way to start the weekend as fans piled inside the Ericksen Center for a 4:00pm game. The Eagles cruised to a 3-0 victory winning all three sets by scores of 25-15, 25-12, and 25-12.
The Eagles got contributions from the entire roster in this contest.
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) led the way with 12 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Freshman
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) exploded for the best game of her young career so far. She had 8 kills on 11 attempts (.727). Senior
Caitlyn Pruis (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) has spent the last year battling back from injuries and she saw her hard work and perseverance pay off on Friday night as she played her best game of the season. She finished with 8 kills and 7 digs.
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) was nearly perfect on her attacks in the match finishing with 6 kills on 7 attempts.
Cassie Flynn (New Franken, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) and
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) ended with 5 kills apiece.
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) had 4 kills while
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) (team high 17 digs),
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian),
Abby Pierce (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian), and
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) all added a kill in the contest as well.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) also added a kill but that was far from her most impressive stat line in the game. She ended the contest with a season high 47 assists and 8 digs.
Ashley Hinrichs (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) had four digs and an ace.
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) had 15 digs while
Ella Bourne (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) added 12 of her own.
With the victory, the Eagles moved to 5-0 in UMAC play and still have not dropped a set this season against conference opponents.
Game Two
In the nightcap on Friday, the Eagles squared off with a familiar nonconference opponent, the Wartburg College Knights. The Eagles and Knights have gone back and forth over the last decade, with each team always considered one of the better teams in the Midwest region. On Friday night, the Eagles defended their home court with a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-19, 25-10).
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) returned for the second game of the doubleheader and she did what she has done for the last four and a half seasons in an Eagle uniform: completely control the game from the back row. She finished with 15 digs, 2 assists, and a kill. Her 15 digs put her at 2,989 for her career. She only needs 11 more digs to reach 3,000 in her legendary career. If she is able to cross that 3,000 digs threshold, she will become only the 10
th player in the history of NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball to do so.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) led the Eagles' offense with 12 kills, 8 digs, 2 blocks, and 2 aces.
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) had 8 kills, 3 digs, and a block.
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) chipped in 6 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 aces.
Hannah Gadient (Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue) had a team high 15 assists while
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) had 13.
Up Next
The Eagles will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at noon when they host Minnesota-Morris in a game that will mark the 50 Years of UNW Volleyball Celebration. After that game, the Eagles will travel down the road to North Central University where they will take on the Rams at 5:00pm.
