ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Volleyball team returned to UMAC play Tuesday night against Martin Luther College to kick off a five-match homestand inside the Ericksen Center. UNW had no troubles with the Knights, rolling to a sweep to improve to 12-6 overall this season and 4-0 in the conference.
The Eagles set the tone for the match early in set one, exploding out of the gates to take a 13-3 lead.
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) tallied three kills in the opening stretch, while
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) each added two. Aune and
Elese Paplow (Lakefield, Minn./Jackson County Central) also served aces in the sequence. MLC put together a little run of its own to pull within six at 16-10, and fought off continued strong play at the net from Northwestern to make the margin five at 22-17. But a strong finish from the Eagles, including a Wyatt kill and a
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) ace, ended the set at 25-17.
UNW raced out to a big lead in the second set as well, but this time left no room for a comeback attempt.
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) logged three kills to help the Eagles take a 16-6 lead. A 4-0 run featuring two Wyatt kills and one from
Taylor Dick (Olathe, Kans./Olathe East) increased the lead to 20-9, and Northwestern kept its foot on the gas, closing the set on a 5-0 run thanks to two kills each from Jarchow and Aune, plus another from Dick, making the score 25-11.
Martin Luther refused to go down without a fight, as the Knights led 7-6 to begin set three. A 6-1 UNW run ensued, with Olsen pounding home a couple more kills. The Knights were able to trim their deficit to one until consecutive Jarchow kills and a solo block by Aune put the Eagles back in the driver's seat. Three Egge kills an a Rich ace later, MLC was back on the ropes, trailing 22-16. Olsen and Jarchow closed out the match with one more kill each, matching the third set's score with the first at 25-17.
Jarchow hit an efficient .400 to tie her career-high in kills with 14, adding six digs. Egge followed suit with 11 kills on .500 hitting, while Wyatt finished with eight and two blocks. Aune tallied three blocks and an ace, and Jenniges logged an absurd 40 assists (13.33 per set) and an ace. Rich and Moravchik tied for a game-high 12 digs, adding two and one aces, respectively, while Paplow and
Ella Bourne (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) had one ace apiece. As a team, UNW finished with an impressive .330 hitting percentage and nearly doubled up Martin Luther in kills (45-23).
The Eagles will double-dip conference home matches on Saturday, taking on Bethany Lutheran and Crown at 1:00 and 5:00 PM, respectively.
