ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Volleyball team began its conference season last weekend with a pair of road sweeps, but returned home Friday night for what may end up being its toughest conference test of the season. The University of Wisconsin-Superior came into the showdown 3-0 in the UMAC and 13-5 overall, while Northwestern boasted an 8-5 overall record and 2-0 in the conference. To complicate things more for UNW, All-American senior
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) was not available to play in the match. The Eagles, however, passed the test with flying colors, sweeping the Yellowjackets in front of a lively Ericksen Center crowd. It was the fourth consecutive sweep for
Beth Wilmeth's squad and its eighth of the season.
A balanced attack paced the Eagles, who jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set one thanks to two
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) kills and an ace from
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids). The lead grew to 11-3 when Aune added two blocks, one of which was with
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph), who also notched a kill in that stretch. Northwestern's largest lead of the set was 20-10, and despite a late, 7-2 run by UWS, it was able to close out the opener, 25-18. Aune racked up four kills and four blocks in the set.
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) started to heat up as set two began and UNW raced to a 4-1 advantage. The home team extended the lead to 9-4 after a couple more Olsen kills, but Superior scored eight of the next nine points to suddenly take the lead, 12-10. The Eagles turned around and rode the home crowd to an 8-1 run of their own that featured two more Aune blocks and two more Egge kills to seize the momentum back and take an 18-13 lead. The Yellojackets were able to trim the deficit to one, but Aune picked up a kill and a block (alongside
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland)) on back-to-back points to push the lead to four at 22-18. Superior again cut the lead to one at 24-23, but a service error gave Northwestern a tight win in set two, 25-23.
The Eagles got their money's worth in set three as well, despite a pair of Egge kills giving them an early 4-1 edge. Aune continued to host the Twin Cities' hottest block party of the weekend as the set wore on, and finally, UNW was able to put together an 8-1 run to open up a 17-10 lead. Moravchik was at the center of the charge, picking up two kills and a block. A late UW-Superior spurt forced Wilmeth to call a timeout with a 22-20 lead, but Northwestern scored the next three points and prevailed, 25-20, to cap off the sweep.
Although it went down as a sweep for the Eagles, the stats were pretty even in most areas. Each team finished with 40 kills and only one dig separated the two. Where Northwestern held the edge was in blocks, putting up 18 total compared to Superior's six. Aune was a force all night for the purple and gold, finishing with nine kills and 10 blocks, three of which were solo. Egge finished with nine kills as well, adding four blocks, while Olsen logged eight kills. Wilber and Moravchik led the team in digs with 17 and 15, respectively.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) led the game in assists with 22, and
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) added 15.
The Eagles will have a quick turnaround before hosting their Homecoming game at 11:00 AM against Northland College. UNW will then make the short trip downtown for a battle of UMAC unbeatens as it takes on North Central at 4:00 PM. The winner of the match will sit atop the conference standings and control its own destiny.
