#5 Lopers Sweep Bearcats
The fifth-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team warmed up and a got a combined 25 kills from outside hitters Emilee Lane and Carly Purdy to sweep Northwest Missouri (-19, -13, -9) Thursday night at Buckle Court.
The Lopers (25-3, 12-3) are now in a second-place tie with Central Oklahoma in the league standings with Washburn (11-3) right behind and Missouri Western (13-2) right ahead.
Northwest (9-15, 3-12), hoping to get into next week's eight-team MIAA Tournament in St. Joseph, put a fight early on as it was just a 15-14 lead after a kill by junior Gabrielle Gartner.
"We took a pretty good shot from them early and I wasn't surprised. They are playing for their tournament lives so they were sharp. They were hard to stop … I looked down halfway through the first set and they were hitting .500," said Loper head coach Rick Squiers. "They also played good defense almost all the way through the match."
A 'Cats service error made it 20-17 and then back-to-back kills from Purdy (North Platte) and Lane (Hays, Kan.) got UNK to set point. An unforced NW error then made it 1-0 on the scoreboard. In set two, the Lopers out hit the 'Cats by over .200 points while also serving up three aces. Finally, it was a block party in the third (8.00) with redshirt sophomore middle Sydney Davis (Dannebrog) leading the way.
"We outlasted and played super clean and didn't make mistakes. Then we had that big blocking run and that kind of frustrated them and took the fight out of them at the end," said Purdy. "It was two things; obviously Syd Davis can do that. She's that kind of blocker and we see that every day in practice. And Rhyan did a great job of being steady back there (service line). Didn't make an error, didn't let them outta of that rotation."
Lane reached her match-high 14 kills in just 29 swings (.429) with Purdey at 11 and hitting an efficient .333. Next, Davis had 11 stuffs (three solo and eight assisted), junior libero Ellie Spang (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) provided 14 digs and three aces, and graduate setter Peyton Neff (North Platte) totaled 34 assists, 10 digs, and three kills. Finally, sophomore DS Rhyan Mock (Stilwell, Kan.) at seven digs and an ace.
Northwest got 12 digs and six kills from senior RS Kassidy Mohwinkle.
UNK hosts Mo West Friday at 7 p.m. and after the Younes Hospitality MIAA/NSIC Crossover Basketball Tournament. Back in early October, the Lopers used huge rallies in the first and fourth sets to beat the Griffons in five.