ST. PAUL, Minn.- The University of Northwestern Volleyball team entered Wednesday night's UMAC Semifinal contest as the #5 ranked team in the country and the top ranked team in the conference tournament. The Eagles hosted Martin Luther, the #4 seed in the UMAC Tournament, inside the Ericksen Center and defeated the visiting Knights 3-0 (25-13, 25-9, 25-15). #1 UNW will host #3 Wisconsin-Superior in the UMAC Tournament Championship Game on Saturday night at 7:00pm.
The Eagles and the Yellowjackets will meet in the UMAC Tournament Championship Game for a second straight season. UNW defeated UWS 3-0 in last November's championship to win the conference tournament championship. Wisconsin-Superior will be traveling to the Ericksen Center on Saturday night thanks to an impressive win they picked up on Wednesday evening. Superior had lost twice to Minnesota-Morris in the regular season while the Cougars had only lost twice in UMAC play all season long (both losses coming against Northwestern). In Wednesday night's semifinal contest, the Yellowjackets stunned the Cougars with a 3-1 win to knock out the UMAC's #2 seed. On Saturday, Superior will once again be facing a team that swept them in the regular season. The Eagles defeated the Jackets on September 29
th and October 21
st this past year, with both matches ending with a 3-0 score.
The Eagles entered their contest on Wednesday night looking for their third and final victory over the Martin Luther College Knights this season. UNW swept MLC on September 22
nd and October 24
th during the regular season. The Eagles would complete the trifecta, sweeping the Knights for a third time this season to punch their ticket to the UMAC Championship game.
The Eagles' hitting percentage in the win over the Knights was off the charts, finishing at .514. The UNW defense would also hold MLC to a hitting percentage of -.011 on the night. One of the main storylines throughout the night was the Eagles' defensive performance at the net. The team finished with 18 total blocks as a team; making life hard for the Martin Luther hitters to find any area to attack all match long.
In the first set, the Eagles jumped out to an early 5-2 lead to the delight of the home crowd who will get to see their team in action all conference tournament long thanks to the Eagles earning home court advantage throughout the tournament. UNW would not trail in the set after that start and cruised to a 25-13 victory despite never scoring more than three points in a row. However, the Eagles never let the Knights capture any momentum by only letting them score consecutive points twice in the entire set.
The Eagles used a different approach in the second set. The Eagles used two long runs to pull away from the Knights and win the set 25-9. UNW held a slim 4-2 lead before scoring six consecutive points and forcing the Knights to call an early timeout.
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) and
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) had kills during this stretch. Later on in set two, UNW led 19-9 as they closed in on another set victory. The Eagles would once again score six straight points (a kill from
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) and
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford), an MLC error, an ace from Glanzer, and two kills from
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland)) to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead.
The third set started out with the two teams tied at three, but another big UNW run saw the Eagles jump out to a 10-3 lead thanks to seven straight points. MLC would get a point to momentarily stop the bleeding, but the Eagles followed that up with five more consecutive points. Northwestern would never look back as they went on to win the set 25-15 and sweep the Knights 3-0.
Balance was the key offensively for the Eagles. The team ended with 42 team kills on their way to the win, but no individual player had double digit kills.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian),
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls), and
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) all had eight kills apiece to lead the way for the Eagles. Glanzer hit .615, Brown hit .571, and Schmidt hit an eye-popping .800 on the night. Brown added six total blocks (two solo) to her stat line. Schmidt had five blocks.
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) chipped in four kills and five total blocks.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) led the Eagles in both assists (19) and digs (7).
The UMAC Tournament Championship Game is now set. The University of Northwestern Eagles will host the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets at 7:00pm on Saturday, November 11
th. The winner of that contest will earn the UMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
