ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern responded to last night's loss with swagger, sweeping both the California Lutheran University Regals and Concordia College (Minn.) Cobbers.
GAME ONE: CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY REGALS
The opening two sets remained close, with UNW edging out 25-19 and 26-24 wins before finding their groove in the third set and cruising to a 25-10 victory.
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) delivered the opening kill to set the stage for a serving streak from Elese Paplow (Lakefield, Minn./Jackson County Central), putting UNW up 6-1. Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) worked her way around the rotation, finding two kills before serving the Eagles to a 14-6 lead. Northwestern led by as many as nine after another kill from Wyatt. Both sides battled back and forth until Emma Sip (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) slammed the door with a kill to take the first set 25-19.
In set two, the Eagles never trailed, but could only pull away by five points at most. Egge and Wyatt could not be stopped, combining for eight kills, while Wyatt added five blocks.
After sneaking away with the second-set win, the Eagles carried all the momentum into the final set, winning by a commanding 25-10. UNW played an all-around game, posting 14 kills with no errors and locking down the defense, not allowing the Regals to score twice in a row. Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) started the set with an ace and later scored the sixth point with a clever setter dump. Egge collected four consecutive kills to put UNW up by six. Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) added a pair of kills for the 13-7 lead. A kill from Wyatt and another from Norah Jaeb (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong), along with several Cal Lutheran attacking errors, pushed UNW ahead 18-7. Egge served the final four points and concluded the match with an ace.
In the final set, UNW did not record an error and had an impressive .636 hitting percentage. Egge led the team with 12 kills, two aces and five digs. Wyatt added 10 kills and five blocks, while Jaeb recorded seven kills and three blocks. Sip tallied four kills and three blocks. Jenniges and Libby Weckman (Shakopee, Minn./Southwest Christian) both served an ace and delivered 19 and 11 assists, respectively. Alana Costello (Mead, Colo./Mead) finished with 14 digs and four assists. Joining Costello in the back row was Paplow, who tallied eight digs.
GAME TWO: CONCORDIA COLLEGE COBBERS
UNW took charge straight from the jump in their second match against the Cobbers, winning 25-10, 25-14 and 25-19. Weckman started the run, serving five points with an ace for an early 8-2 lead. Both teams battled back and forth until a pair of kills from Egge and Jaeb put the Eagles within seven points of closing the set. UNW finished the set by showing off its attacking prowess, getting kills from Olsen on the right side, Wyatt in the middle and Jarchow on the left to secure the 25-10 win.
Jaeb had a hot start to the second set with two kills and a block to push the Eagles ahead by three. An ace from Costello brought the score to 6-2. Egge contributed three kills in UNW's next seven points before she and Jaeb combined for another five points to give the Eagles a 23-13 advantage. Olsen and Wyatt ended the set with kills of their own.
In a much tighter set, the Eagles shared the offensive burden in the final set of the afternoon, with every hitter finding the hardwood on the other side of the net. Even setter Jenniges snuck in a kill of her own. Jenniges also served the 19th through 24th points before assisting Jarchow on the final kill.
Egge once again led the Eagles with 14 kills and eight digs, along with one block, while hitting .542. Wyatt finished with nine kills, while Olsen and Jaeb recorded eight each. Costello finished with 15 digs, along with nine from Paplow. Weckman added 20 assists, while Jenniges put in 19 assists and two aces.
The Eagles move to 5-2 on the season and have their work cut out for them next weekend at the St. Kate's Quad, taking on St. Catherine University, No. 10-ranked Juniata College and No. 1-ranked UW-Oshkosh. The first match of the tournament against the Wildcats will take place on Wednesday, September 16, at 7:00 PM.
