Courtesy of Midland Athletics
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – Taking the court inside the United Sports Academy for a midday match, No. 9 Midland University showed improvements from earlier in the week as they swept (RV) The Master’s University. The Warriors
In the opening set, Midland took an early 3-0 lead and was able to keep The Master’s at arm’s length most of the way. The Mustangs battled back to even five times and took the lead briefly at 22-21. A four-point run by the Warriors behind kills from Cortlyn Schaefer, Abbey Ringler (2), and Jacki Apel sealed the win, 25-22.
After a 4-0 run to start the second, Midland increased its lead to 14-4 as they overpowered their opponents. The lead grew to as many as 13 near the end of the set, 23-10, before a late charge by the Mustangs. They went on a 7-1 run but the Ringler closed the door with a kill to end the set, 25-17.
The script in the third set was similar to the first with Midland once again taking control early. Unlike the opening though, The Master’s were unable to pull even after the early 2-2 tie. It was a block party to end the match with all three of the final points for the Warriors coming from the defensive front.
First, it was Lauren Williams and Ringler combining for back-to-back stops, then Ringler and Schaefer thwarted the final attack of the match, putting the Warriors up 25-16.
Defensively, Midland had a day at the net with 11 total blocks in the sweep. Getting a hand on six of the stuffs was Abbey Ringler (1 solo, 5 assists). Lauryn Samuelson added five block assists as well while Lauren Williams was in on four blocks.
On the attack, Addy Mosier paced the Warriors with 11 kills on 22 swings. Ringler had nine kills while Jacki Apel led the team with 23 attempts, connecting on 8 kills in the match.
Coordinating the attack were Brena Mackling and Brielle Power. The tandem setters had 18 and 17 set assists, respectively.
In the back row, Delanie Vallinch had a match-high 20 digs from her libero position. Mackling nearly joined her in double figures, finishing a pair short with eight digs. Kailyn Scott added six digs from her defensive specialist position.
At the service line, Jessie Moss had a solid day with a pair of aces.
“I thought we played really well today [Friday],” said head coach Paul Giesselmann. “You know, we were disappointed in what we did at Doane. I thought today, against a quality team from California, our kids were really focused. I thought we passed well and were really good at the net. To get done in three games and save our leg for Saturday, I thought it was a good start to the tournament.”
As a team, the Warriors hit .227 on the attack while holding the Mustangs to a .075 hitting mark.
Midland (5-2) will return to action in the Labor Day Classic on Saturday with two more matches. First up at 9:00 a.m. will be a meeting with (RV) Rocky Mountain (6-4). Then, at 1:00 p.m. the Warriors will face No. 6 Park (3-1).
