ST. PAUL, Minn. - After a grueling 11 matches to open the season, the University of Northwestern Volleyball team welcomed North Central University to the Ericksen Center on Tuesday night for its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference contest of the season. UNW was able to play every healthy player that had yet to see action this season, and gave some of its star players some rest while picking up its seventh sweep in eight wins this season. The Eagles were in control from start to finish, hitting .452 as a team and winning 25-10, 25-4, 25-15.
Anja Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) was cooking early, logging four kills and a solo block as Northwestern got out to a 10-4 lead in set one.
Emma Sip (Rogers, Minn./Rogers) had a nice set as well, picking up a kill and an ace in a 4-0 run that extended the lead to 14-5. Back-to-back
Addeson Jenniges (Walnut Grove, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) aces made it 20-7, and consecutive
Norah Jaeb (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) kills helped get the score to 23-8. Jarchow closed out the set by teaming up with
Siri Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) for a block and hammering home a kill to win it, 25-10.
More Eagles saw the court in the second set, including
Abbie Brand (Pella, Iowa/Pella), who picked up two kills and a block early in set two. Jaeb picked up two more kills in the early goings as well, and
Elese Paplow (Lakefield, Minn./Jackson County Central) logged consecutive aces as UNW led, 8-1. Jaeb, Jarchow and Sip teamed up to produce a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 14-2, and a pair of
Libby Weckman (Shakopee, Minn./Southwest Christian) contributed to a 4-0 spurt, bringing the margin to 20-3. Northwestern was able to close out the 25-4 set on another 5-0 run, including back-to-back
Anna Olsen (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) kills and an ace from Jarchow.
UNW stayed hot to open the third set, as Jarchow tallied two more kills and a block, and Paplow picked up another ace. An 8-1 run shortly thereafter was aided by kills from
Taylor Dick (Olathe, Kans./Olathe East) and
Ava Moravchik (Mason, Wis./Ashland), but the Rams showed some fight, pulling within six at 20-14. Two Dick kills and one more apiece from Brand and Jarchow produced a 5-1 run which allowed the Eagles to close out the set, 25-15, and the match, 3-0.
Without the usual suspects of
Ana Egge (Rapid City, S.D./Rapid City Christian) and
Miranda Wyatt (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan Christian) atop the leaderboard, Jarchow did a lot of the heavy lifting for Northwestern, The junior finished with 11 kills on .391 hitting, nine digs, five blocks and an ace. Jaeb hit .429 on her way to nine kills and a pair of blocks, while Brand chipped in four blocks in just two sets in her collegiate debut. Bach finished with two blocks, and
Alana Costello (Mead, Colo./Mead) led both teams with 13 digs. Paplow had eight digs and three aces, and Jenniges also tallied three aces, in addition to a match-high 17 assists. Weckman dished out 11 assists and logged a pair of aces, and Sip chipped in one ace and five kills on .833 hitting.
UNW will continue conference play on Friday night with a big match at UW-Superior, who was picked to finish second in the UMAC in this year's preseason coaches poll. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
