MANKATO, Minn. – Saturday marked not only the first conference games of the season for the 12
th-ranked University of Northwestern Volleyball team, but also the first road games of the season for the Eagles. Northwestern began the day with a match at Bethany Lutheran College before making the short drive to New Ulm to close out the night at Martin Luther College. UNW swept both matches to extend its UMAC sweep streak to 35 consecutive matches, and its conference winning streak to 67 matches.
Game One: Bethany Lutheran College Vikings
After playing its first 11 games of the season in the friendly confines of the Ericksen Center, No. 12 Northwestern was perhaps a little out of sorts in the opening set at Bethany Lutheran, playing in a different gym. The Vikings took an early 4-3 lead before the Eagles struck back with five straight. UNW extended its lead to 13-7 after an ace from
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids), but BLC answered right back with four unanswered to trim the lead to two. The two teams then remarkably traded six consecutive 3-0 runs, resulting in a 22-20 lead for Northwestern. Kills by
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford),
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) and
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) closed out a tight, 25-23 victory in the opening set. Schmidt finished the set with six kills.
Any road nerves that were present in set one clearly had dissipated by the time the second set began. Schmidt and
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) logged some early kills before a 7-0 UNW run broke the set open and gave the visitors a 12-5 advantage. The Eagles continued to overwhelm the Vikings with kill after kill in two 4-0 runs, three of which came from
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy).
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) and
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) closed out the set with back-to-back kills, giving Northwestern a 25-15 win.
Once UNW seizes momentum, it does not often relent. Such was the case in Mankato on Saturday. BLC scored the first two points of the third set, but the Eagles claimed the next eight, highlighted by three Schmidt kills and a pair of Glanzer aces. An 8-2 run later in the set gave UNW a double-digit lead at 18-8, and a late push by Bethany wasn't enough as the Eagles closed the set with the final four points, including two aces from
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North). The 25-14 set win gave Northwestern yet another UMAC sweep to open the conference season.
Schmidt finished the match with 14 kills and two blocks. Egge tallied eight kills, eight digs and two blocks, while Aune logged seven kills on .538 hitting and two blocks. Glanzer was solid all-around with 11 digs, six kills and two aces. Wilber had a game-high 23 digs and two aces herself. Rich's three aces were a game-high, while
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) and
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) dished out 21 and 17 assists, respectively.
Game Two: Martin Luther College Knights
Northwestern's second match of the day began similarly to its first. The Eagles and Knights traded points early before UNW took control via an 8-0 spurt which featured two kills and a block from
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian). A slight push from MLC was quickly vanquished by a 5-1 Northwestern run to close out set one, 25-16.
The second set was tight in the early goings as well, but a 7-1 run gave UNW a 14-7 advantage.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) picked up a kill and an ace in the spurt, while
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) tallied two kills. Two more Glanzer kills made it 20-11 in favor of the Eagles before the Knights made one last effort to come back, cutting the lead to 23-17. An
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) kill, followed by a block by Schmidt and Wyatt, closed out the set, 25-17.
Aune and
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) began the third set strong as Northwestern opened up a 9-4 edge. Olsen continued to pound kills home, and a
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) ace made it 21-12, Eagles. A couple of Glanzer kills fended off a Martin Luther run to close out the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-0. The two sweeps made it seven sweeps for UNW so far this season out of eight wins.
Glanzer, Schmidt and Olsen all finished with eight kills to lead Northwestern, with Glanzer chipping in 10 digs and two aces as well. Schmidt hit an astonishing .636 in the match and Olsen hit .500. Rich and
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) logged 10 and nine digs, respectively, while Wyatt led the team with two blocks.
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) and
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) handed out 16 and 14 assists, respectively.
The 8-5 Eagles will continue conference play Friday, October 4
th at 7:00 PM as they host UW-Superior to kick off Homecoming weekend at Northwestern.
