Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Inside a hot and steamy Wikert Event Center, No. 9-ranked Midland University opened up the 2023 season with a straight-set sweep of York University on Tuesday night. Despite the warm temperatures outside that trickled into the gym, the Warriors needed a little while to get going as they won 25-22, 25-17, 25-14.
Prior to the first serve, Midland unveiled its 2022 NAIA Semifinal banner in front of a crowd of over 1,200 with recent graduates Brooke Fredrickson, Taliyah Flores, and Hope Leimbach unwrapping the new addition to the north wall.
“It was a great night for our program as we brought back our three great recent alums to help with the banner reveal,” said head coach Paul Giesselmann post-match. “To give our fans a chance to share in the success our team had last year I thought was really important.”
The first set saw a seesaw battle as York held a 9-6 lead and then a 19-17 edge, resulting in timeouts by the Warriors at each point. The home team responded down the stretch, ending the set on an 8-3 run to win 25-22.
Set two saw things start to click for Midland as they cut their mistakes back to hit a match-best .294 on the attack. York matched the effort as they hit .280 in the set, their best of the night.
Midland led wire-to-wire, turning an early 4-1 lead into a 21-13 advantage following a 5-0 run which saw a pair of ace serves by Kailyn Scott. A kill by Addy Mosier finished off the Panthers in the set as the Warriors won 25-17.
With freshman setter Brena Mackling as the service line to start set three, Midland rattled off seven straight points to take the early lead. Mackling, who finished with a match-high 27 set assists, set up the arsenal of Cortlyn Schaefer, Abbey Ringler, and Jacki Apel in the run.
A surge of five unanswered points put the Warriors on match-point and then a kill by Ringler clinched the sweep, taking the third set by a score of 25-14.
For the night, Ringler paced the Warriors with 14 kills while hitting an impressive .579 on the attack. Addy Mosier also had an efficient night with nine kills and an attack percentage of .438. Rounding out the main attack for Midland were Lauren Williams and Schaefer with seven kills each while Apel had six in her Midland debut.
“Abbey, we kind of take it for granted. We kind of expect that out of her,” said Coach Giesselmann. “I think she’s capable of being an All-American with her athleticism and her offensive ability. It was good to see Addy perform the way she did because she had some struggles during fall camp. For her to come out and have this type of game with only two errors. That’ll be a big key for us this season, cutting down on our mistakes in which we score points for our opponents.”
As a team, Midland hit .255 with 46 kills against 20 errors on the attack. York hit .092 with 20 kills and 13 miscues on the attack.
“In the end, it was an opportunity for us to get better,” added Coach Giesselmann. “I’ve got to give York credit. I thought they were a really scrappy team and caused us some problems at times. Now, we’ll turn our focus to our Midland Showdown. We’re going to have four great opponents and four opportunities to get better and grow as a team.”
Midland (1-0) will have a day to regroup as they prepare to host four national tournament-caliber teams in the Midland Showdown presented by Fairfield Inn & Suites. The three-day showcase, which features four teams ranked in the Top 10 of the NAIA Coaches’ Preseason Poll, gets started on Thursday night. The opening match will feature Grand View taking on No. 7 Viterbo at 5:00 p.m. with No. 9 Midland facing No. 8 Missouri Baptist at 7:30. The 2022 National Runner-Up, No. 2 Corban rounds out the field of teams and will start their slate of games on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m.
