ST. PAUL, Minn. – On the penultimate night of regular season play, two teams near the top of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball standings squared off in what proved to be an epic battle in the Ericksen Center. No. 22 University of Northwestern and the University of Minnesota Morris had already played once this season, where the Cougars were able to hand the Eagles their first conference set loss since 2019 in what wound up being a four-set win for Northwestern. Morris came ready to play Friday night as well, taking the first set and nearly the second as well. Ultimately, UNW (20-8, 11-1 UMAC) was able to find its rhythm and pull away for a 3-1 win to remain alone atop the UMAC standings entering the final day of the regular season.
As mentioned above, it was all UMM early. The Cougars stormed out to an 18-7 lead that had the Ericksen Center stunned. Northwestern was able to chip away, going on a 5-1 run thanks to kills by
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford),
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian), who also added a block. Three
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) kills gave the Eagles some hope as they trimmed the deficit to 23-18, but Minnesota Morris was able to close them out, 25-18.
Despite the opening-set loss, UNW got out to a 3-0 lead after kills by Aune and
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA). UMM proved it wasn't going away, using a 6-1 run to open up a 9-7 edge. The lead became 18-14 as Northwestern searched for answers and momentum. It found it via a 4-1 run to pull within one at 19-18. Schmidt had two kills and Aune one, then Egge blocked a Morris attack that sent the home faithful into a frenzy. Minnesota Morris was able to grab the following point, but the momentum still belonged to the home team, as UNW rattled off six straight to close out the set in thrilling fashion, 25-21. Glanzer had two kills and Aune two aces to light the spark.
The Eagles seemed to be picking up where they left off as the third set commenced, but a 3-1 lead became a 5-3 deficit in a hurry. The teams went back-and-forth before Northwestern went on a 6-0 surge that brought the Ericksen Center to life once again, taking a 13-9 lead.
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) had two kills and
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) had one block and one kill. Morris was able to pull within two at 15-13, but UNW once again had the antidote, taking advantage of some Cougar errors and getting another ace from Aune to break the set open and go ahead, 20-13. Despite all the momentum with the team in purple, the visitors weren't done yet. UMM used a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 22-20, but yet another Aune ace and two more attack errors from Morris led to a 25-20 win for the Eagles.
It became apparent during the fourth set that Morris may have spent the remainder of its energy during the late surge in the third set. Schmidt, Egge, Glanzer and Aune continued to go to work, giving UNW a 13-8 lead. An 8-2 spurt that featured blocks by Aune, Glanzer and Olsen as well as, you guessed it, another Aune ace, put Northwestern in complete control at 21-10. The hosts would go on to win the set, 25-13, to finish off the 3-1 victory over a tough opponent.
Glanzer had her best offensive night since returning from injury, registering 12 kills to go along with 12 digs. Aune hit .421 on her way to 10 kills and a staggering five aces, while Egge chipped in with eight kills and four blocks. Schmidt added seven kills and Wyatt a game-high seven blocks.
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) led Northwestern in digs with 13, while
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) logged 10, in addition to 18 assists. Strickfaden tied for the game-high with 19 assists.
The Eagles will have an opportunity to win a 14
th consecutive regular season conference championship on Saturday. They will travel to Crown College for a 1:00 PM match before returning home for Senior Night against North Central University at 5:00 PM. If they win both, they are outright conference champions. If they split, they can still share the title. All that to say, a fun Saturday of volleyball awaits.
