Kearney, Neb. – The third-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team got a combined 33 kills from outside Asha Regier and middle Mia Berg and fought off multiple set points to get past 29th-ranked Missouri Western (-33, -26, -20) Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.
The Lopers move to 15-0 (3-0) while the Griffs fall to 11-3 (2-1). These two meet again on Nov. 14 in St. Joseph.
The match featured 19 ties and nine lead changes with the teams combining for 109 kills, 166 digs, 23 blocks and six aces. In set one, UNK jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and then managed nine set points. However, MWSU fought off eight and even had four of their own. The Lopers had 24 kills in the set and got ones from Berg (Eureka, Mo.) and Trista Marx (Limon, Colo.) to finally end the battle.
“We showed a lot of grit in the first two sets. The first (set) was kind of back and forth and both teams had to face set points. We were just able to make one more plan than they were,” said UNK head coach Rick Squiers. “The second one we had to come back, late, from a hole. We do talk to our team about that a lot, especially in this place. It’s never over and you’re still in it at 24-21, 24-22. Sure enough, we made a couple of plays to get it back to even and then it was anybody’s.”
Things went almost as long in set two as UNK had several three- and four-point leads before falling behind at 19-17. The Griffs reached set point, 24-21, after a kill by sophomore Holly Heldt (14 kills, 24 digs). However, the H&S Center magic worked once again as the Lopers closed on a 7-2 spurt that featured three Regier kills, and one apiece from Marx and Berg.
“Once we got (the second set), I’m sure it’s hard for them to psychologically come back from losing two that felt like they got away,” said Squiers. “We’re very fortunate to get a win tonight against a team that’ll be a factor this year.”
UNK was in control of the third, but MWSU did make things a bit interesting as they cut a 21-13 deficit to 22-18. Two kills by Berg finally ended the 2:00 match. The Griffs out dug the Lopers by a 92-74 margin that include 22 from libero Anna Weberg and 12 from setter Nessa Johnson (49 assists, three block assists). The Lopers had one more kill, the Griffs one more team block and each squad had three aces. Finally, UNK out hit MWSU by 27 points.
Individually, Regier (18) and Berg (15) paced the offense with Marx coming off the bench early on and having eight kills in 24 swings (.333 pct.) as well as two blocks. In the backrow, libero (Mattawan, Mich.) had 28 kills for a second straight match with DS’s Addyson Mock (Stilwell, Kan.) and Lexi Stephens (Ankeny, Ia.) combining for 22 more. Finally, veteran DS Aleena Peterson (Kansas City) served up all three of UNK’s aces.
“We were able to get some offense from Trista. It wasn’t always pretty but she was just crafty enough to be able to get some kills and we needed every single one of them,” said Squiers. “We also were able to get some offense from Asha in the backrow.”
Besides Heldt’s double double, Mo West got 15 kills from Emily Loy and 12 kills and five blocks from Taylor Russell.
UNK hosts Northwest Missouri (8-5, 2-1) Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
