ST. PAUL, Minn. - Following a competitive loss at No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Wednesday night, the University of Northwestern Volleyball team returned to conference action with a double-dip of potential playoff opponents. In a morning battle of UMAC unbeatens, Northwestern executed to near perfection in a dominant sweep of the University of Minnesota Morris. The evening match with Crown College was much tighter, but the Eagles were able to prevail with another sweep despite getting everything they could handle from the Polars.
Match One - University of Minnesota Morris Cougars (25-12, 25-17, 25-10)
UNW's opening match of the day came with big UMAC implications, as the Eagles and Cougars came in a combined 6-0 in conference play. By the time the match had concluded, Northwestern left little doubt who the front-runner is, rolling to a 25-12, 25-17, 25-10 sweep.
After Minnesota Morris scored the first two points, UNW ripped off an 11-2 run, including two kills each from Norah Jaeb (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) and Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian), and an Alana Costello (Mead, Colo./Mead) ace. Jaeb, Wyatt and Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) continued to produce at the net, leading to a convincing, 25-12 win in the opening set.
The Eagles came out hot in set two, taking a 4-1 lead after a Grace Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland) ace and another Wyatt kill. Leading 11-8, Northwestern put together a 7-1 run on the back of two kills apiece from Jaeb and Wyatt, and three from Egge. Morris chipped away and was able to get within seven, but ran out of real estate as Wyatt ended the set with a powerful kill at 25-17.
The early goings of the third frame appeared to forecast a more competitive set, as UNW held just a 7-6 advantage. But a 15-2 onslaught followed, with the hosts keeping their foot on the gas. Jaeb and Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) each logged three kills in the spurt, which set the table for a 25-10 win to close out the impressive sweep.
The Eagles were efficient, hitting .355 as a team and holding the Cougars to just .017. Egge paced the offense with 12 kills on .379 hitting, and added five digs in the back row, while Wyatt hit a whopping .643 to produce nine kills and five blocks. Jaeb also logged nine kills and hit .529, adding three blocks, and Jenniges dished out a season-high 27 assists. Costello and Moravchik produced the only two aces for UNW, and led the team with 16 and 11 digs, respectively.
Match Two - Crown College Polars (25-21, 25-19, 25-16)
For as easy as the morning sweep looked at times for Northwestern, the evening match was anything but. Crown came out on fire, taking a 7-3 lead early in the opening set before the Eagles were able to get their footing and go on a 5-0 run featuring two kills and an ace from Egge. UNW extended its lead to 12-9 after a Jenniges kill, but Crown answered right back with three straight. The teams traded points before Northwestern scored three straight, including a Libby Weckman (Shakopee, Minn./Southwest Christian) ace. Crown was able to pull within one on a couple different occasions, but Wyatt and Egge were too much, combining for five kills to allow the Eagles to escape with a 25-21 win in the first set.
UNW seemed to have locked in as the second set began, getting two kills apiece from Egge and Jaeb, plus another ace from Weckman, to take an 8-3 advantage. The lead ballooned to 18-6 as Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) joined the party with three kills, but the Polars were able to rip off a 10-1 run to force a Beth Wilmeth timeout with the score suddenly 22-18. The timeout seemed to work, as an Egge kill and two more from Wyatt shut the door at 25-19.
Even with the comeback attempt in set two falling short, Crown refused to go down quietly. The visitors opened up a 7-4 lead in the third set until Egge and Weckman led the charge in a 6-0 run to put Northwestern in front. The Polars answered the bell again, rattling off four straight to regain the lead, but UNW broke through for good with a 12-1 avalanche to make it 23-13. Wyatt was unstoppable in that stretch, logging two kills and six blocks, including four consecutively. Fittingly, the junior star from Montana also delivered the match-ending blow with her 10th kill of the night.
Wyatt nearly pulled off a rare kills/blocks double-double, ending the night with 10 kills on .471 hitting, and nine blocks. Egge nearly produced a double-double herself, tallying 15 kills, nine digs and an ace, while Jaeb finished with seven kills and three blocks. Olsen logged three blocks as well, all coming in succession and in tandem with Wyatt. Weckman dished out a match-high 21 assists and had a match-high three aces, while Jenniges contributed 16 and two, respectively.
Up Next
The 11-4 (4-0 UMAC) Eagles will have a week-long break before playing Augsburg at 4:00 PM on Homecoming Saturday, October 10th. This Homecoming will be a particularly special one for Beth Wilmeth and her program, as they welcome back the 2016 Final Four team, which is being inducted into the UNW Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday morning.
