ST. PAUL, Minn. - The University of Northwestern Volleyball team kicked off a busy weekend Friday night with a big match against the University of Minnesota Morris. In a battle between two projected UMAC Tournament teams, Northwestern came out on top in straight sets, earning its sixth conference sweep in a row to improve to 7-0 in the UMAC and 15-6 overall.
Morris gave UNW all it could handle in the opening set, continuously holding a 1-2 point lead until a 5-1 run put the Eagles ahead, 14-11. A pair of
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) kills kept Northwestern's lead at three, then UNW finished the set on a 7-1 surge to close it out, 25-18. It would utlimately be the closest set of the night as
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) each tallied four kills in the frame, while Wyatt and
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) each chipped in three.
The second set began tight as well, but the Eagles blew it open with another 7-1 explosion to move ahead, 11-5. Northwestern continued to get efficient play at the net from Jarchow, Aune, Olsen Wyatt and
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian), and also took advantage of a slew of Cougar errors en route to a convincing, 25-13 win in set two.
Set three didn't get much better for the visitors, as UNW's front line continued to put on a show. Aune and Wyatt each had two blocks in the closings frame and added four and two kills, respectively, as the Eagles put Morris away with a 25-12 win to complete the sweep.
Aune hit .429 on her way to a match-high 12 kills and added two blocks and two aces, while Wyatt hit .533 and chipped in nine kills and a match-high five blocks. Jarchow tallied six kills and two blocks and Olsen five and two, on .357 hitting. Jenniges finished with 28 assists and two blocks on the night, while
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) logged a match-high 17 digs.
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) also reached double-digit digs with 10, while
Ella Bourne (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) contributed an ace.
Northwestern will play its second road-home doubleheader of the season, traveling to Crown for a 1:00 PM match before returning home to take on North Central for Senior Night at 5:00 PM.
