Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – It was a rematch from the first Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) match of the season back in August, as No. 18 Midland University took on Doane University on Saturday afternoon inside the Wikert Event Center. The Warriors, who won the first meeting, won in straight sets once again over the Tigers (25-20, 25-20, 25-15) as they honored their senior class and their families before the game. The win keeps Midland (14-9, 10-5 GPAC) in a tie for fourth in the conference standings while Doane (7-18, 5-10 GPAC) stays in eighth.
The opening set saw the Warriors take control early as they led 6-3 through the first nine points. Abbey Ringler and Claire Johnson each had a pair of kills in the run. As the set continued, Ringler added two more to her tally while Johnson tallied one, putting MU up 22-20. Ringler’s fifth kill of the set put the Warriors on set point and then she had a solo block to end it, 25-20.
Momentum from the first spilled over into the second as Midland went up 5-2 behind kills from Ringler and Jacki Apel along with a string of miscues by Doane. The Tigers were able to claw back to tie the set at 10-10 before another run by the Warriors put distance between the teams.
Leading 18-13, Midland got a pair of kills from Lauryn Samuelson as they stretched the lead up to 21-14. A 5-1 run by Doane pulled them within four but a missed serve sealed the victory, 25-20, once more for MU.
In the third, the Tigers and Warriors traded points early. After a tie at 5-5, Doane scored back-to-back points to take the lead. Their advantage was short-lived as Midland came roaring back with seven straight points. Lauren Williams had a big hand in the run with three kills and a pair of blocks alongside Samuelson. After a side out to stop the landslide of points, MU got things rolling again with kills from Samuelson, Ringler, and Johnson to make it 15-8.
The Warriors closed out the set and the match with an 8-2 run. Six different Warriors got a kill during that closing stretch with Jessie Moss accounting for a pair, including the final point off a set from Hailee Martinez for the 25-15 win.
For the match, six players registered five or more kills for Midland. Leading the way was Abbey Ringler with 12, followed by 9 from Lauren Williams and 8 from Jessie Moss. Claire Johnson finished with 6 while Lauryn Samuelson and Jacki Apel each had 5 kills.
Coordinating the attack well-balanced attack were the duo of Brielle Power and Brena Mackling. Power led the way with 20 set assists while Mackling had 18. Hailee Martinez, who came on in the third, had a pair of assists and Delanie Vallinch added three.
Vallinch led the way defensively in the back row with 12 digs. The trio of Mackling, Power, and Kailyn Scott all had 7 digs as well.
At the net, Midland finished with 11 blocks as a team. Apel and Ringler each had a hand in on 6, including four times where they went up together for the stuff.
The Warriors had three aces on the day with one each from Vallinch, Scott, and Quinn Kay.
“I’m really proud of our team and the way we’ve made progress the last three weeks. I feel like we’re a completely different team now than the first time we played Doane,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “Our ability to cut down on errors over our five-match winning streak has been a big key for our team. Now, we get an opportunity to play a top-five team on Tuesday. For us, it’s really a chance for us to get tested and keep seeing where we can keep getting better. I feel like our winning streak has really cemented the opportunity for us to get a bid to the national tournament. We obviously want to be playing our best ball and we’ll what happens Tuesday and in the conference tournament.”
Midland (14-9, 10-5 GPAC) will host No. 4-ranked Concordia (20-2, 13-2 GPAC) next week in the regular-season finale at home. The Warriors, who are tied for fourth in the conference standings will be vying for the final chance to host the first round of the GPAC Tournament. First serve against the Bulldogs is set for 7:30 p.m. in Fremont on Tuesday, October 31.
