SUPERIOR, Wis.- #4 University of Northwestern Volleyball played their first road UMAC match of the season on Friday night when they traveled to the North Shore to take on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets. The contest marked a rematch of last year's UMAC Tournament Championship game as these were the two teams that finished in the #1 and #2 spots in the conference a year ago. The Eagles won the Tournament Championship game a year ago, and they won on Friday night in convincing fashion. The Eagles swept the Yellowjackets 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-10).
The American Volleyball Coaches Association's fourth ranked team in the country was firing on all cylinders from the first serve of the night to the last. The Eagles' success on Friday night came from their ability to generate offense without making mistakes. Northwestern finished the night with a hitting percentage of .321 having generated 43 kills on 106 total attacks and only making nine hitting errors the entire evening.
Balance was another one of the Eagles' keys to success inside Mertz Mortorelli Gym on the campus of UW-Superior on Friday. Nine different Eagles registered a kill in the match with the team getting contributions from every player on the floor. UNW also showed its balance defensively as seven different players combined for 12 blocks and 11 players all chipped in at least one dig to the team's total of 62 on the night.
Ari Schmidt's (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) efficiency on offense was one of the stories of the game for the victorious Eagles. She finished the night with 11 kills on 20 attempts for a .550 percentage.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian), the reigning back-to-back UMAC Offensive Player of the Week, played well both offensively and defensively. The junior finished with 11 kills and 14 digs.
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy), the reigning UMAC Defensive Player of the Week, finished with five kills and a .500 hitting percentage. The sophomore added two blocks and two digs.
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) had a team-high 18 digs while also adding six assists and a kill.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) had 19 assists and
Hannah Gadient (Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue) added 13 assists.
The Eagles will complete the UMAC doubleheader by competing against Northland College in Ashland tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, September 30
th). The game is scheduled for a 1:00pm start.
