FREMONT, Neb. – After dropping a pair of five-set matches, No. 1-ranked Midland University returned to their winning ways with a sweep of Mount Marty University on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors improved to 16-2 overall and 5-2 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) with set scores of 25-11, 25-15, and 25-23. Mount Marty remains winless in conference play at 0-7 and falls to 6-11 on the season.
The Midland offense was efficient with 45 kills on 102 swings with just 9 errors. Their .353 hitting percentage was the second-best mark of the season with their best (.404) coming in the first meeting with the Lancers.
Sets one and two were never in doubt as the Warriors virtually led wire-to-wire in each. Mount Marty’s lone lead through the first two came at 3-2 in the second set. The third set was a different story entirely.
The Lancers jumped out in front early, building a 5-1 lead. That lead remained intact most of the set, until a late run by Midland.
Trailing 18-14, the Warriors went on a 4-0 run to tie the set at 20-20 and then closed out the match with a 5-1 run to secure the sweep.
“I was happy to see our team come out really focused to start the match and play low error,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “I was a little disappointed we let up in game three but still showed a lot of composure to finish the match.”
Several players played and contributed to the match. In total 13 Warriors saw the court for at least one game. Offensively, just one player reached double-digits in the balanced attack. Taliyah Flores floored 16 balls on 34 swings, hitting .441 for the match. Abbey Ringler was next in line with 8 kills on 16 swings, hitting an equally impressive .438.
Spreading out the attack was setter Hope Leimbach. She registered 37 assists in the three sets.
Defensively, Leimbach led the team in digs with nine. Flores finished with eight and Delanie Vallinch added seven. At the net, Midland had seven blocks as a team. Lauryn Samuelson had a hand in all but one, finishing with six block assists.
Midland (16-2, 5-2 GPAC) will host another familiar foe next as Concordia (9-6, 4-3 GPAC) comes to Fremont next week. The two teams met back on September 8 in Seward. A match won in three sets by the Warriors. First serve in the rematch is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Wikert Event Center on Wednesday, September 29.
