SUPERIOR, Wis. – After a non-conference sweep of UW-River Falls on Wednesday night, the 18
th-ranked University of Northwestern Volleyball team was riding high heading into a busy Saturday of competition. The Eagles made their annual road trip up north to take on Northland College and the University of Wisconsin-Superior in a double-dip of conference action. The match at UW-Superior had been hyped up all week as the UMAC Game of the Week, as the Eagles and Yellowjackets entered as the first and second teams in the UMAC standings. Northwestern was able to sweep Northland in the first game of the day, but lost a five-set heartbreaker in Superior. The loss snapped UNW's 73-match winning streak against UMAC opponents, with the last one coming on October 1
st, 2019 at St. Scholastica.
Match One: Northland College LumberJills
No. 18 UNW made quick work of Northland, taking a quick 7-0 lead behind three
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) kills and two
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) aces. The lead grew to 19-4 as
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) started to take over on both sides of the net, picking up two kills and three blocks. The LumberJills closed the gap a little, but Northwestern picked up the final four points of the set to win it, 25-10. Brown finished the set with four kills and three blocks.
The Eagles kept the momentum rolling into the second set, opening up a 4-0 advantage. The lead became 10-5 as Egge and Brown continued to cook.
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) joined the mix with a trio of kills, and then Moravchik aced the Jills three consecutive times to stretch the lead to 17-7.
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) and
Abby Schlabach (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) got involved to help UNW close out a 25-14 win in set two.
Northwestern began the third set strong much like the first two. Brown continued her outstanding play to give her team an early 3-1 edge. Northland wasn't ready to back down, coming back to take an 8-7 lead before Schmidt and Moravchik each notched two kills in a 4-0 run to put the Eagles back in the driver's seat. Shortly after, an 8-1 UNW spurt that included two Brown kills and two more Moravchik aces all but sealed the deal. Another 25-14 win gave UNW the sweep.
Brown, who earned All-UMAC Honorable Mention honors in each of the last three seasons, was terrific, posting game-highs in kills (13) and blocks (5). She hit an impressive .545 as well. Schmidt was efficient as well, hitting .412 en route to nine kills, while Egge added seven. Wyatt logged six kills on .600 hitting.
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) tallied an astounding 31 digs and Moravchik 20, in addition to seven aces.
Ella Bourne (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) added 11 digs.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) led the Eagles with 22 assists, while
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) dished out 13 while acing the LumberJills twice.
Match Two: University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets
As easy as the first match of the day was for No. 18 UNW, the nightcap was anything but. UW-Superior got out to a 5-2 lead early in set one before back-to-back kills by
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) pulled the Eagles within one. The Yellowjackets stretched their lead to six at 14-8, but a 3-0 sequence once again brought Northwestern back in it. UWS again had an answer, extending its advantage to 20-12, but UNW had more left in the tank. Aune and Glanzer each tallied a kill and two blocks as the Eagles went on a 7-0 surge to trim the deficit to one and stun the Superior crowd. Two of the next three points went Northwestern's way as well (a Glanzer kill and a
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) block) to even the score at 21, but the hosts were able to get to set point in their favor at 24-22. Glanzer once again rose to the occasion, tying things at 24 with a kill and an ace, but UW-Superior took the next two points to win the thrilling first set, 26-24.
Despite the opening set loss, the Eagles came out firing in the second. Glanzer picked up two more kills and teamed with Aune for a block to give UNW a 4-0 lead. The Jackets recovered to keep things close, but
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) was heating up for Northwestern as well. Her third kill of the set gave
Beth Wilmeth's squad an 11-8 advantage, and it stretched to 15-10 after another 4-0 spurt, capped off by a
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) ace. Another Olsen kill and back-to-back blocks by the duo of Aune and
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) highlighted the third 4-0 run by UNW in the set, giving the visitors complete control. They would go on to win the set 25-17 with the final point coming via, you guessed it, a Glanzer kill.
Much like the sets flip-flopped back and forth throughout the night, so did the third set alone. UWS scored the first three points and Northwestern scored the next three. The teams traded points until Superior went on a 5-1 run to open up an 11-7 advantage. The Eagles answered with four straight to tie it at 11, and eventually pulled ahead, 16-13. The hosts weren't about to roll over to the defending conference champions, however, as they were able to put together another 5-1 run to go back in front, 19-18. The ping pong match continued and led to a 22-22 tie, but the Yellowjackets prevailed, taking the final three points to win it, 25-22, and suddenly put the Eagles one set away from their first conference loss in years.
Northwestern had other ideas, as Glanzer picked up three early kills to put her team in front, 4-2. Superior was able to recover and even took a 9-8 lead, but UNW scored six of the next seven to retake the lead, 14-10. UWS was able to pull within one at 17-16, but Wyatt took over on both sides of the net, leading the Eagles to score eight of the final 10 points of the set to win it, 25-18, and force a decisive fifth set. The UMAC Game of the Week was experiencing the ultimate theater.
The Jackets ended the drama pretty quickly, taking a 6-0 lead. The closest UNW was able to get was five points at 8-3, and UW-Superior rolled to a 15-7 win to stun the Eagles and split the season series. Northwestern is now 15-8 overall this season and 8-1 in the UMAC.
Even in the loss, the Eagles did have the edge in a few stat categories. They out-hit their opponents .161 to .122 and had 16 blocks compared to Superior's four. Glanzer was her usual self in her return to full action, racking up 15 kills, 12 digs, five blocks and an ace. Aune was outstanding as well, finishing with 11 kills on .435 hitting and 10 blocks.
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) added eight kills with Olsen and Wyatt chipping in seven each. Wyatt also tallied five blocks (as did Schmidt), and Olsen three.
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) led the team in digs with 18 and Wilber added 17. They both added an ace as well.
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) led the team in assists with 25, and
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) logged 16.
The Eagles will return home on Tuesday, October 29
th for a non-conference showdown with Augsburg University. First serve at the Ericksen Center is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
