ST. PAUL, Minn. - Before closing the regular season on a four-game road trip, the University of Northwestern Volleyball team played its final non-postseason home match Wednesday night in the Ericksen Center. In a matchup between two of the best Division III teams Minnesota has to offer, the Eagles were able to outlast the College of Saint Benedict, 3-1, to improve to 18-6 on the season, while CSB fell to 15-6. The win is the eighth straight for Northwestern and the 14th in 15 games.
UNW got off to a scorching hot, 6-1 start behind a kill and two blocks from
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy), and two
Elese Paplow (Lakefield, Minn./Jackson County Central) aces. The Bennies were able to shrink the gap despite
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) contributing on both ends of the net, but a trio of
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) kills extended the Eagles' lead to 18-13. A 3-0 run featuring an
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) kill and a
Hannah Rich (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) ace made it 21-15, then the two squads traded points for the remainder of the set, resulting in a 25-19 win for the hosts.
It was Saint Ben's who came out hot to begin set two, taking an early 5-1 lead. Egge came alive to get Northwestern back in it, then back-to-back
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) kills tied things up at nine. A block by Olsen and Aune gave UNW its first lead of the set, but the margin remained within a point or two on either side until a 4-0 sequence put CSB in front, 21-18. The Eagles pulled within one, but the Bennies answered right back with two more. Saint Benedict reached set point at 24-22, but an attack error and another Rich ace evened the score and ignited the home crowd, forcing a CSB timeout. It was a savvy move by Head Coach Nicole Hess, as Saint Ben's scored the next two points out of the huddle to take the set, 26-24.
The Bennies' set win ended UNW's streak of seven-consecutive sweeps, but
Beth Wilmeth's squad did not seem spooked. The third set was tight throughout, as neither team could pull away from the other. Egge pounded home four more kills to give her team a 17-14 advantage, but CSB scored the next three points to tie. Six of the next eight went Northwestern's way, then Jarchow and Paplow finished it off with a kill and an ace, respectively, at 25-21.
The Eagles' momentum carried into their first, fourth set in three weeks when a
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) ace sparked a 4-0 start in favor of the home team. Saint Benedict was able to rally and take a 9-7 lead, but a 7-1 run that included a kill and an ace from Egge put UNW back in control at 15-11. Northwestern hit the ball with incredible efficiency (.367 in the set) down the stretch, with the usual suspects Egge, Aune and Wyatt each picking up multiple kills. A 5-0 explosion that nearly put a few dents in the Ericksen Center floor ended the match in four sets with a 25-16 score.
Egge led the offensive charge with 16 kills, the second-most in a single match of her career, on .324 hitting, adding an ace as well. Jarchow added 12 kills, while Aune and Olsen each recorded 10 to go along with seven and three blocks, respectively. Wyatt had seven kills and four blocks in the middle, and Jenniges posted a double-double with 47 assists and 10 digs. Moravchik logged a match-high 20 digs and Wilber also finished in double figures with 10, plus an ace. Paplow tallied a match-high three aces and Rich contributed two.
UNW will begin a four-match road trip to conclude the regular season, beginning with a playoff-implicating bout with UW-Superior on Saturday, November 1st. First serve in Superior is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
