Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Back on their home floor for a midweek matchup, No. 17 Midland University defeated (RV) Grand View University on Wednesday night inside the Wikert Event Center. The Warriors, who moved up three spots in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll, needed four sets to hand the previously unbeaten Vikings their first loss (25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-13).
The two sides traded points early with seven ties through the first 16 points. After knotting the score at 8-8, Midland went on a 7-1 run to seize control of the opening set. The lead grew to 18-11 before Grand View battled back with strong serving. The Vikings scored seven straight points to pull within two, forcing Midland to burn both timeouts. After the second stoppage, the Warriors regrouped and scored the final two points to win 25-21.
Grand View answered in the second set. After trailing early, the Vikings rallied to take a 9-8 lead and extended it to 16-12, prompting a Midland timeout. The momentum stayed with the visitors as they pushed the lead to 23-14. A late Midland run closed the gap, but Grand View evened the match with a 25-20 win.
In the third, Midland jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Grand View cut the margin to one at 8-7. A 5-0 Warrior run put them back in control, but the Vikings fought back to tie it at 17-17. After three more ties, Grand View led 22-20 and appeared to have regained momentum. Midland responded with a 5-1 closing run to take the set 25-23 and a 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set was tight early with eight ties through the first 18 points. A 6-1 Midland run forced a Viking timeout, but the Warriors never looked back. They closed the match with a 10-3 run to win the set 25-13 and the match in four.
For the night, Midland hit .252 with 54 kills on 143 swings and 18 errors. Grand View hit .174 with 48 kills and 23 errors on 144 attempts. Brooklynn Snyder led the Warriors with 19 kills, while Abree Plueger added 12. Lauren Jones and Lauren Williams chipped in with seven and six kills, respectively. Jaysa Wentzlaff and Brena Mackling combined for 45 set assists, with Wentzlaff recording 25 and Mackling adding 20. Defensively, Delainey Castposted 16 digs, while Plueger notched a double-double with 11 digs to go along with her kills. At the net, Midland finished with seven team blocks, led by Cameran Jansky with three block assists. Williams, Jones, and Avery Couch each contributed two block assists. At the service line, the Warriors tallied 13 aces, with Mackling serving five, Snyder adding four, and Sydney Guthard recording two.
“Grand View was undefeated for a reason. I don’t think they necessarily played the level of competition we had, so I felt confident knowing that our past experiences would help us in the big moments,” said head coach Micah Rhodes. “You could see that we’ve learned from previous matches and battled through some adversity.
“I joked with the team in the locker room: I can see why Coach G [former coach Paul Giesselmann] didn’t have any hair because they stress me out for sure. We’re kind of Jekyll and Hyde right now. We’re not going to eliminate the Hyde, but we’ve got to tame it. We can’t let teams go on big runs against us. We have to stop the bleeding. If one aspect isn’t going well, we need to lock into something that is and get the other part back where it should be.”
Midland (5-5) turns its focus to Great Plains Athletic Conference play this weekend. The Warriors travel to Omaha to take on the College of Saint Mary (7-3) on Saturday. First serve is set for 5 p.m. inside the Lied Fitness Center.
