ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the second consecutive Friday, the University of Northwestern Volleyball team swept its opponent in front of a raucous Ericksen Center crowd. The difference in this Friday's game is that the sweep took down No. 17 Millikin University, who went 1-2 in a gauntlet of an opening weekend last week. The Eagles used a balanced attack on both sides of the net to down the Big Blue on the opening night of the KTIS Classic and improve to 3-1 on the young season.
Millikin raced out to an early 5-2 lead, but UNW rattled off three straight (kills by
Marley Aune (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) and
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian), as well as a block from Aune and
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove)) to tie it up. After falling behind 7-6, Northwestern put together a 5-0 run that became an 8-2 run and put the purple and gold firmly in front. The surge featured two kills apiece from Egge and
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph), as well as a Jenniges ace. The Big Blue trimmed its deficit to two at 16-14, but a 4-1 run highlighted by a pair of Aune kills made it 20-15. Millikin wasn't done, ultimately tying the match at 23-all, but a tag-team block from Aune and
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) gave the Eagles a 25-23 victory.
Still feeding off the momentum of the opener, UNW got two kills from Olsen and one from Aune to take a 4-0 lead in set two. The Big Blue were able to steady the ship a bit, but an 8-3 run gave Northwestern control at 15-8.
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) racked up two kills and a block in the sequence. Millikin got back within two on a few different occasions in the set, but Olsen, Jarchow, Egge, Wyatt and Aune were too much too handle at the net, and
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) and
Mikayla Wilber (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) handled a powerful Big Blue front line as well as they could. Kills by Egge and Jarchow ended the set with the Eagles ahead, 25-21.
After a back and forth start to the third set, UNW took over. An 8-1 blitz that included three aces (one from Wilber and two straight from Aune), Northwestern held a 12-4 advantage. Millikin was able to put together its own streak, a 7-2 one to pull within three, and got it to one after a 6-2 spurt. Undeterred, the Eagles scored the final six points of the match to cap off the sweep, much to the delight of the electric home crowd. After Olsen's ninth kill of the night to make it 21-18, UNW's final four points were all blocks--one from Egge, two from Olsen and (the final) three from Wyatt.
Aune paced the Eagles with nine kills, five blocks and two aces, while Olsen added nine kills and two blocks herself. Egge finished with eight kills and two blocks, while Wyatt and Jarchow each tallied six. The latter two also added four and two blocks, respectively. Moravchik had a game-high 21 digs and an ace, while Wilber logged 10 digs and an ace. Jenniges, the reigning UMAC Setter of the Week, dished out 31 assists and aced the Big Blue twice.
Northwestern will play a pair of matches on Saturday to finish its final home tournament of the season. The Eagles will take on St. Olaf at 11:00 AM before closing with Dubuque at 1:30 PM.
