Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – On a busy Saturday in Fremont, No. 20 Midland University hosted Dordt University inside the Wikert Event Center. In a matchup of four-win Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) teams, the Warriors battled back in the second set and completed the straight-set win (25-20, 26-24, 25-13).
In the opening set, Midland hit .343 with 15 kills while Dordt recorded 12 kills, hitting .167. After a tight start with four ties in the first eight points, the Warriors went on a 10-2 run to gain control. The Defenders battled back with a 9-3 run to pull within two points, but Midland held on to take the set, 25-20. Jacki Apel and Brooklynn Snyder led the Warriors with four kills each.
The second set saw Dordt jump out to a 19-14 lead, but Midland responded with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 21-21. The teams traded points until Midland forced an attacking error and closed the set, 26-24, with a block from Abbey Ringler and Claire Johnson. Midland hit .214 in the set while holding Dordt to a .065 hitting percentage.
The Warriors controlled the third set, using a strong attack to turn a 12-8 lead into a commanding 22-11 advantage. They hit a match-best .357 with 13 kills and three errors as they closed out the sweep with a 25-13 win. Dordt hit .129 with nine kills and five errors in the final set.
For the match, Midland hit a season-best .295 on the attack. Pacing the front line were Brooklynn Snyder and Abbey Ringler with 10 kills each. Jacki Apel, Cameran Jansky, Lauren Jones, and Claire Johnson all had five kills in the Warriors’ balanced attack.
Coordinating the offense were Brena Mackling and Stella Kuehl who had 15 and 19 set assists, respectively. Mackling added 6 digs and a service ace while Kuehl had 5 digs and an ace.
Leading the defensive back row was Delanie Vallinch with 15 digs from her libero position. Delainey Cast added 7 digs while Snyder and Kailyn Scott both finished with 5. As a team, Midland had 7 blocks. Ringler had 5 while Snyder had 3 to lead the way.
“I was really happy for our team today. They are starting to see the positive results of their hard work,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “This is the second match in a row that our team showed a lot of confidence. They were down in the second set and came back to get the win. We have a full week of practice to keep improving.”
Midland (9-7, 5-1 GPAC) will be back in action next weekend with back-to-back conference matches. On Friday night, the Warriors will be in Mitchell, South Dakota to face Dakota Wesleyan (8-8, 3-2 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. Then, they’ll travel to Forest City, Iowa for a 12:30 p.m. match at Waldorf (8-7, 2-4 GPAC).
