Courtesy of Midland Athletics
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Pool play got underway for Midland University on Thursday afternoon in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship as it took on the University of Montana Western. After settling in after dropping the opening set, the Warriors won the next three to take the match (20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-16).
SET ONE: Montana Western 25, Midland 20
Early in the opening set, the teams exchanged points evenly with ties at each step up to 7-7. A three-point rally by the Bulldogs started an 8-2 run as they took control. Having played a match the day before, Montana Western was able to relax and play with calmness as they built a 16-8 lead.
After swapping points, Midland started to find its groove as it used a four-point rally to cut the deficit in half. While they were unable to overcome the strong start by UMW, the fairly young group of Warriors were able to get themselves acclimated to playing at the national tournament.
Montana Western hit an impressive .423 in the set with just three attack errors, winning 25-20. Midland was held to a .133 hitting mark while committing eight miscues on the attack.
SET TWO: Midland 25, Montana Western 23
With the two sides settled in and becoming familiar with each other’s plan of attack, the second set saw a back-and-forth battle on court two inside the Tyson Events Center. Following an even split of the first 18 points, Midland took to first multi-point lead of the set at 11-9. The Warriors did so behind a balanced attack that saw kills from five different players.
Through the remainder of the set, they were able to hold the Bulldogs at bay. Nearing the end though, Montana Western made one last push as it pulled even at 23-23. Following an attack error by UMW, Brena Macklin served the Warriors to a set two win with an ace, winning 25-23.
Mackling and Brielle Power coordinated the balanced attack that saw six players record a kill en route to a .157 hitting mark. Montana Western’s hitting percentage dropped to just .167 as they were forced into seven hitting errors.
SET THREE: Midland 25, Montana Western 22
With the match tied up at a set each, the third set was up for grabs early on as the two sides traded points once more. Montana Western was able to gain some separation early as it went on a run to go up 8-3, forcing a timeout from the Midland bench.
After the huddle, the Warriors ramped up their defense at the net. Back-to-back blocks of the Bulldogs capped off an 8-2 run as they took their first lead of the set. That set the tone for the rest of the set as Midland got three more blocks on its way to a 25-22 win.
Montana Western was held to a .038 hitting mark, with 11 errors, in set three. The Warriors hit just .104 on the attack but their ability to control the net with five blocks propelled them to a 2-1 lead in the match.
SET FOUR: Midland 25, Montana Western 16
Midland took control early in the fourth, scoring the first two points on its way to an 8-5 lead that forced Montana Western into one of its timeouts. Out of the break, the momentum stayed with the Warriors as they went on an 8-3 run. Trailing 16-8, the Bulldogs took their final timeout as they looked for an answer to the Warriors’ attack.
That answer didn’t come as Midland cruised to the decisive 25-16 win behind its best-hitting set of the afternoon. They hit .242 with 14 kills and just 6 miscues while the Bulldogs were limited to a .162 hitting mark.
For the match, Brielle Power and Brena Mackling coordinated the attack to a .154-hitting percentage with 52 kills. Power assisted on 21 while Mackling had 26 set assists. The leading attacker for Midland was Jacki Apel with 11 kills. Abbey Ringler was close behind with nine kills followed by eight kills from Jessie Moss and 7 kills apiece for Cortlyn Schaefer and Lauren Williams.
Lauryn Samuelson had a team-high six block assists while Williams had a hand in on three blocks. After being held without a block in the opening set, the Warriors finished with eight for the match.
“When you get to the national championship tournament, the only stat that matters is the win-loss column,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “I’m really proud of our girls today. There were prettier matches already in the tournament than this one, but our girls found a way to win. Especially after getting down after the first set. For whatever reason, we were quiet. I don’t know if there were some nerves with a few of our players.”
“I loved how they trusted the process and believed in each other,” added Coach Giesselmann. “In the second set, things turned around and the communication was better and we started making some plays. I thought our serving game started to put more pressure on them [Montana Western] and that allows our block and defense to make plays”
Midland (17-11) will be back in action on Friday afternoon against a familiar foe in Concordia (25-3). The two conference rivals out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference will meet at 1:00 p.m. inside the Tyson Events Center. Both teams are 1-0 in pool play setting up a winner-take-all for the Pool D title and a ticket to the Round of 8.
