FREMONT, Neb. – Playing for the first time on its home court, No. 6-ranked Midland University hosted York University on Tuesday night for an in-state tilt. The Warriors picked up a strong three-set sweep over the Panthers (25-18, 25-15, 25-15) for their first win of the season.
The Warriors’ offense was clicking to start the match and their counterparts tried their best to keep pace. After a three-point surge to start for Midland, the set was tied up after a dozen points. The teams were knotted at 7-7 two points later before a kill by Brooklynn Snyder pushed the home side in front.
Another 6-1 run through the middle of the set put the Warriors up 20-14. In the run, the Panthers used up both of their timeouts as Snyder floored a pair of attacks and Sydney Guthard capped it off with a service ace. The Warriors closed out the set with a pair of kills from Lauren Jones and then a kill from Jacki Apel for the 25-18 win.
Midland hit a match-best .324 on the set with 14 kills and just 3 errors. York had its best-attacking percentage of the night with 13 kills and 4 errors for a .200 mark. Five different Warriors had a kill in the opening set with Snyder (6) and Jones (4) leading the way.
In the second set, the Panther broke through with an early 4-1 lead. A quick four-point rally, that turned into an 8-1 run, pushed Midland out in front and it never looked back. It was the defense and serving that stood out in the early going with a pair of aces and several forced attack errors by York. MU took the middle set, 25-15.
Claire Johnson got going on offensively in the second for the Warriors. After being shutout in the first, she had four kills in the second while Abbey Ringler and Snyder each added three kills to their tally. Midland was efficient with 11 kills on 33 attempts (.242) while forcing York into 8 attacking errors with just 10 kills (.056).
During the start of the third Midland did just enough to keep York’s chances of forcing a fourth set at bay. The Warriors moved out in front 5-2 early and then kept the Panthers at arm’s length. Leading by just one, 12-11, Midland went on a five-point rally with Brena Mackling at the service line. In addition to an ace serve, the sophomore setter put her teammates in great attacking chances as the Warriors went up by six.
Following a couple of short rallies, Midland closed out the set and the match with a four-point run to end the third, winning 25-15.
For the match, the Warriors hit .216 while limiting the Panthers to a .064 mark. Midland’s attack featured kills from seven different players. Leading the way with 11 kills and a .435 hitting percentage was Brooklynn Snyder. Abbey Ringler was the next highest with 7 kills while Lauren Jones and Claire Johnson each had 5.
At the net, Midland had 10 total blocks. Jacki Apel had a hand in on five to lead the way while Ringler added four assists. In the back row, Delanie Vallinch dug up 15 balls to pace the Warriors while Delainey Cast and Brena Mackling both added 7.
“I was really pleased with the way we performed overall tonight,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “One of the things we’ve been stressing since last weekend was we have to be better offensively. Better with our transition offense. We still have things to work on. We have to get a better connection with our middles and that will come. We’ve got a sophomore and a freshman setter this year and one of our middles is moving over from the right side.”
“We’re never concerned with what our win-loss record is in August and September,” added Coach Giesselmann. “We really want to find out what our strengths and weaknesses are, how players respond when they are really stressed. The only way you’re going to find those things out is by playing teams that are just flat-out better than you are at that moment and time.”
Midland (1-3) will face one of its most challenging weekends on Friday and Saturday when it travels up to La Crosse, Wisconsin. Awaiting the No. 6-ranked Warriors will be No. 12 Corban (1-1), No. 11 Missouri Baptist (1-4), and No. 5 Viterbo (1-3). Matches in the V-Hawk Invitational get underway on August 23. Midland will play Viterbo (11:00 a.m.) and Mo. Baptist (6:00 p.m.) on Friday and then take on Corban (10:00 a.m.) on Saturday.
