ST. PAUL, Minn. – Another weekend yields another daunting home slate for the 13
th-ranked University of Northwestern Volleyball team. Already having played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country to open the season, the road will not be any easier in UNW's VolleyWOW Weekend, presented by the WOW God Podcast Network. With Saturday games against No. 12 Gustavus Adolphus College and UW-Stevens Point--who received top 25 votes this week--awaiting them, the Eagles' first matchup of the weekend was against No. 5 Emory University out of Atlanta, Georgia. After a blistering hot start, Northwestern cooled off and fell to Emory (also named the Eagles) by a 3-1 margin.
As mentioned above, the start of the match could not have gone any better for 3-3 UNW. A plethora of errors by Emory and blocks by
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and company gave Northwestern an early 5-3 lead before
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) hammered home her first of a game-high 16 kills. Three more unforced errors from a clearly uncomfortable Emory squad stretched the lead to 9-4, then UNW went on a 6-0 run moments later to blow the set open. The spurt included two more blocks, two more Glanzer kills and a
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) ace. Glanzer and
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) continued to work the offensive end of the net while Aune, Glanzer and
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) stonewalled Emory's attack on the defensive side.
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) drilled one to the Ericksen Center floor to take set one, 25-14.
Set two was much more competitive in the early goings as the visitors began to settle in. That didn't stop Glanzer from continuing to bring the boom from the outside, but the block party that had been raging in set one appeared to transfer ownership, as Emory was now beginning to turn away a good portion of Northwestern's attacks. Already leading 10-8, Emory used a 7-1 charge to take command of the set. After that, UNW wasn't able to score consecutive points until it was already down double-digits, and Emory would go on to claim set two by a 25-15 score to even the match at one set apiece.
Emory stayed hot to open set three, scoring the first two points, but Northwestern answered with a 3-0 run that featured kills by Glanzer and Aune, as well as a solo block by Aune. A 12-2 Emory surge put the visitors in control once again at 15-6. UNW tried to claw back by scoring the next three points, but Emory answered right back. Olsen and
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) took charge, bringing Northwestern within two after a 7-2 run, but Emory scored five of the last six points of the set to win it, 25-19.
To its credit, UNW refused to go down quietly.
Beth Wilmeth's team, which celebrated its 1,000
th program win in a pregame ceremony with alums and former coaches, got out to an early 3-0 lead as Olsen continued to shine. But after the home team made the lead 7-5 after another Egge kill, Emory turned it on again. A 7-1 run gave the Georgians a 12-8 advantage, and they did not give up their lead for the remainder of the match. Northwestern kept it close the rest of the way, never falling behind by more than four points thanks to four more Glanzer kills, but Emory ultimately prevailed, 25-21, to seal the match at 3-1.
The loss was the third time this season Northwestern has fallen to a top 10 team at home. Emory improved to 6-1 on the year with the win. UNW did end up doubling its opponents in blocks (14-7), led by Aune's eight and four each from Wyatt and Glanzer. Glanzer also racked up 16 kills and 13 digs on the night, her third double-double of the season. Schmidt finished with seven kills, while Olsen (who hit .417) and Egge each tallied six.
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) logged a team-high 15 digs, while Wilber added eight and a team-high two aces.
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) and
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) dished out 18 and 16 assists, respectively.
Northwestern will be right back at it in the morning when it faces UW-Stevens Point at 11:00 AM. The Pointers upset No. 12 Gustavus Adolphus in four sets on Friday so it is sure to be another good test for the Eagles. UNW will wrap up VolleyWOW Weekend with a 1:00 match against the Golden Gusties.
