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Kearney, Neb. – The now third-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team used a balanced attack to sweep No. 29 Central Missouri (-17, -20, -22) Friday night in Warrensburg.
This was the MIAA opener for both with UNK (13-0, 1-0) now headed to Missouri Southern (2-9) on Saturday afternoon. The Lions hosted Fort Hays State on Friday night.
To pick up its fifth win in Warrensburg during the MIAA era, UNK got kills from six different players. That included a team-best 11 from sophomore middle Mia Berg (Eureka, Mo.) and 10 more from junior middle Abby Rose (Lindsborg, Kan.).
“I think we out steadied them. It wasn’t anything spectacular on either side of the net,” said UNK head coach Rick Squiers on the KRVN Radio postgame show. “We were really solid and had good balance.”
Winning a couple of video challenges on the night, UNK took control of the match when it was down 19-15 in the second set. An 8-3 run made it 23-22 and featured an ace from senior DS Addyson Mock (Stilwell, Kan.) and two Loper blocks. Eventually, back-to-back unforced Jennie errors made it 2-0 on the scoreboard.
“I thought we were able to serve them tough enough that they couldn’t always run the middle when they wanted to,” said Squiers. “And I thought our middles rose to the occasion. We spent a quite a bit of time this week trying to slow down their offense. Both Abby and Mia did a nice job of getting quality touches.”
UNK broke open a 14-12 advantage in the third set with a 9-6 run that included multiple kills from junior outside Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) and Berg. The Lopers out hit the Jens by a .210 to a .122 margin while recording seven more digs and being plus six in the service game
