ST. PAUL, Minn. - On the heels of a sixth-consecutive sweep of a UMAC foe Friday night, the University of Northwestern Volleyball team decided to add a couple more to that streak Saturday while also honoring its three senior players:
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids),
Ella Bourne (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) and
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy). The trio of veterans all played big roles as the Eagles began the day with a dominant sweep at Crown College, before returning to the Ericksen Center for the Senior Night match against North Central University, where UNW also had no troubles, rolling to another 3-0 sweep and seeing Aune hit another impressive milestone in her career.
Match One: Crown College Polars
Crown and Northwestern have certainly become familiar with one another over the past week, as Saturday's meeting in St. Bonifacius was the second between the two squads in seven days. This week's edition was similarly lopsided, as
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian),
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) and Aune all racked up multiple kills early in set one to lead 14-4, and never looked back. Egge finished the opening set with five kills, Aune had four and Wyatt three as UNW cruised to a 25-13 win.
The trio continued to cook in the second set and was joined by
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne), who tallied three kills in the frame. The Eagles went on runs of 6-1 and 7-1 and got aces from Egge, Aune, Bourne and
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) as they again won by a 25-13 score.
The third and final set featured one of the more impressive runs you will see in collegiate volleyball. With the Polars hanging around at 6-3 despite a pair of
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) aces, Northwestern exploded for a 19-2 run to close out the set, including scoring the final 12 points of the set and match. Egge, who was serving for the duration of the final surge, had three kills and two aces in the set, while Jarchow added three more kills.
Egge's 11 kills on .400 hitting led all players, as did her career-high four aces. Wyatt and Aune each finished with seven kills, and the latter added two aces and five blocks, all solo. Jarchow tallied six kills and Jenniges 28 assists, plus an ace.
Elese Paplow (Lakefield, Minn./Jackson County Central) and Bourne also logged one ace apiece, with Bourne also putting up a match-high 10 digs. Rich finished with a pair of aces as well.
Match Two: North Central University Rams
After making the drive back up north to the UNW campus,
Beth Wilmeth's squad prepared to face the North Central Rams, who had also played earlier in the day at home against Minnesota Morris. Before the match, Wilber, Bourne and Aune were honored in front of their home crowd and loved ones. When the action began, it was all Northwestern. Jarchow had four kills and Aune two, plus two blocks, to give the Eagles an early, 12-2 advantage. Wyatt got in the mix with five kills in six UNW points to push the lead to 22-9, then a
Taylor Dick (Olathe, Kans./Olathe East) kill, a Bourne ace and an Aune kill closed out the opener, 25-12.
Aune and Jarchow continued to pound the ball into the Ericksen Center floor early in the second set, and Rich added two aces to extend the lead to 9-2. With the score 17-6 in favor of Northwestern, Aune made history when she teamed up with Jenniges for her third block of the match, which was also the 500th of her legendary career. She is only the fourth Eagle to reach that mark after also recording her 400th kill earlier this season. That block was part of a 9-0 run for UNW to close out the set, which Aune fittingly finished off with her sixth kill of the night to win, 25-6.
Aune didn't stop at block No. 500, as she teamed up with Dick to record her 501st and 502nd to begin set three. Wilber recorded an ace as Northwestern scored the first six points of the set, and a 7-0 run later, highlighted by three
Maia Marvel (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Maranatha Christian) aces, made the score 16-3. The Rams were able to score five of the next six points, but four Jarchow kills, one from Egge and a Paplow ace slammed the door shut, giving UNW a 25-13 win in the set and its eighth-consecutive conference sweep.
Jarchow paced the Eagles' attack with 14 kills and a .565 hitting percentage. Aune and Wyatt both hit efficiently as well in their six kills, adding six and three blocks, respectively. Egge chipped in three blocks and Dick two, while Jenniges recorded 28 assists and seven digs. Wilber led the team in digs with eight and added two aces, as did Paplow and Rich. Marvel led all players with three aces, while Bourne and
Libby Weckman (Shakopee, Minn./Southwest Christian) each contributed one.
Northwestern will be back at home Wednesday, October 29th to take on Saint Benedict. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
