
Courtesy of Midland Athletics
ORANGE CITY, Iowa – No. 18 Midland University fell in straight sets to No. 1 Northwestern College in a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) volleyball matchup on Saturday. The Red Raiders remained unbeaten on the season, defeating the Warriors 25-16, 25-17, 25-17.
Northwestern delivered an efficient offensive performance, hitting .447 as a team with 48 kills and just six errors. Midland struggled to match that pace, finishing with a .111 hitting percentage, recording 33 kills and 21 errors.
In the opening set, Northwestern started strong with a six-point run to take control early. Midland responded to tie the score at 9-9, but the Red Raiders used subsequent runs of 5-0 and 4-0 to close out the set, 25-16.
The second set saw a more competitive start, with the teams tied four times in the first 10 points. However, Northwestern pulled away with a 12-4 run and finished the set with a 25-17 victory, winning six of the final eight points.
The third set followed a similar pattern, with back-and-forth action early on. Following a tie at 7-7, the Red Raiders capitalized on a four-point swing to take the lead. Two more extended runs allowed Northwestern to secure the sweep, taking the final set 25-17.
Individually, Brooklynn Snyder led the Warriors with 13 kills while Jacki Apel and Claire Johnson both added 5 kills. Setting the offensive attack were Brena Mackling and Stella Kuehl. They each had 13 set assists.
Delainey Cast had 8 digs from the back row to lead the team defensively. Kailyn Scott and Delanie Vallinch were one dig behind with 7 each. At the net, Cameran Jansky and Apel each had a hand in on a pair of block assists as the Warriors were limited to just three total blocks as a team.
“I was disappointed in our defensive intensity today, both blocking and in the back row,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “You have to give Northwestern credit though. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. I thought we really focused on getting better serving and passing since the Mount Marty match, and I thought we did that well today. Our focus now is on getting better in other areas while figuring out how to get a win on Wednesday.”
Midland (13-9, 9-3 GPAC) will be back at home next week for a midweek match with the College of Saint Mary (13-12, 4-8 GPAC). The Warriors won a four-set match on the road earlier this season at CSM in Omaha. First serve of the return match is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Wikert Event Center in Fremont, Nebraska on October 23.