ST. PAUL, Minn. - In front of a raucous Homecoming crowd that featured some of the best to ever play for the program, the University of Northwestern Volleyball team earned its 11th sweep of the season in Saturday's 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 win over Augsburg University. Only one of the Eagles' wins this season as not been the result of a sweep. It was a special day for Northwestern Volleyball, as the 2016 team that reached the program's first NCAA Division III Final Four was inducted into the UNW Athletics Hall of Fame in the morning, and was recognized in a 10th anniversary, pregame ceremony at the Ericksen Center.
On the court, the Auggies were looking to play spoiler as they took a 7-4 lead in the opening set. A pair of
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) kills sparked a 4-0 UNW run to give the hosts an 11-9 edge, but Augsburg punched right back, surging back ahead, 15-12. Six straight Northwestern points, including an
Alana Costello (Mead, Colo./Mead) ace and two
Abbie Brand (Pella, Iowa/Pella) blocks, put the Eagles back in the lead at 18-15, but the Auggies were able to sneak back in front, 20-19. UNW turned it on down the stretch; however, as two
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) kills set up an emphatic solo block from
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) to end the set, 25-21, after a 6-1 surge.
In the second set it was Northwestern who came out hot, leading 5-1 after two blocks and a kill from Egge, who won her fourth UMAC Offensive Player of the Week award of the season on Tuesday. Augsburg was able to draw within a point, but a 5-1 UNW run made it 13-8. The Eagles appeared to be fully in control after an Olsen kill and an Egge ace put them ahead 18-13, but the Auggies used a 5-1 spurt of its own to pull within a point yet again. Northwestern was able to regroup and finish the set off strong, using three
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) kills and a
Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) ace to win, 25-20.
UNW raced out to a 4-0 lead in set three thanks to a bevy of attack errors from the Auggies, but the visitors were able to find their footing and make things interesting at 12-10. But a 9-2 surge with the backing of the home crowd put the Eagles in the driver's seat at 21-12, and the teams traded points the rest of the way, with Wyatt finishing off the sweep with a kill to win the set, and the match, 25-16.
Egge tied for a match-high eight kills, but made her presence known elsewhere, tallying five blocks (two solo), two aces and five digs. After a slower start, Wyatt closed strong to finish with seven kills and three blocks, while Olsen and Jaeb each added six kills, with the latter contributing five blocks as well. Jenniges logged 14 assists, six digs and an ace, while
Libby Weckman (Shakopee, Minn./Southwest Christian) added 13 assists. Moravchik matched Egge with a pair of aces and had eight digs, and Costello finished with one and 10, respectively.
Northwestern will return to conference action with a four-match road trip, beginning Friday, October 16th at Martin Luther. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 PM in New Ulm.
