Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – No. 9-ranked Midland University took to the court on Saturday afternoon as they hosted Cornerstone University in an NAIA Women’s Volleyball Opening Round match. The Warriors made quick work of the Golden Eagles, sweeping the match (25-13, 25-10, 25-16). With the win, they will advance to the final site of the national tournament.
After nearly two weeks off from their most recent match, Midland showed little signs of rust as they took the opening set of the match. Back-to-back kills by Abbey Ringler capped off the Warriors’ first big run of the match, a five-point swing to put them up 9-5. After trading a few points, they went on a seven-point run with Hope Leimbach at the service line to move ahead 20-10. The first set was secured eight points later when Ringler teamed up with Cortlyn Schaefer for a block of the Golden Eagles’ attack.
Their momentum spilled over into the second as the Warriors raced out to a 14-8 advantage. Kills by Lauryn Samuelson, Schaefer, and Taliyah Flores highlighted the quick start. With a two-to-one advantage, Midland went on a 6-0 run to move up 20-8 and then close out the second with another run of five straight points with Maggie Sempeck back to serve. Flores’ third kill of the set put her team up 2-0 in the match with a 25-10 set victory.
In the third, the Golden Eagles matched Midland’s energy early, playing to a 4-4 tie. A quick 6-1 burst by the Warriors, that saw Ringler pick up a pair of kills, distanced the teams on the scoreboard. With the lead growing to 14-9, Cornerstone took a timeout in hopes of stemming the tide.
The Warriors kept coming though, with a 7-1 run to make the score 22-12. Six points later the Warriors were at match-point and Flores punched their ticket for Sioux City with a kill to close out the set, 25-16.
“I’m really proud of how our team responded today after a low point in the season in their last outing,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “After almost two weeks off, the girls were really focused on the little details today and were driven to get back to Sioux City.”
Ringler and Flores paced the Midland attack with 12 and 11 kills respectively. Schaefer added nine while Samuelson finished with eight. Leimbach organized the offense with 34 assists as the team hit .291 for the match.
Defensively, Leimbach and Delanie Vallinch were the team leaders in digs with 14 each. Flores added 11 to register another double-double on the season. At the net, Midland had 10 blocks as a team. Ringler got in on six of those stops while Samuelson, Leimbach, Fredrickson, and Schaefer had a hand in three each.
Midland (24-5) advances to Sioux City, Iowa, and the final site of the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship. They’ll learn their next assignment with the announcement of pools by the NAIA later this weekend. Twenty-four teams will take to the courts inside the Tyson Events Center on November 30. Two days of pool play will establish an eight-team bracket which will determine this year’s national champion.
