Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Back in their home gym for Homecoming Weekend and Alumni Day, the No. 17-ranked Midland University volleyball team swept No. 24-ranked Dakota Wesleyan University in Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) play on Saturday night. The Warriors controlled the match from start to finish, winning 25-15, 27-25, 25-14.
After trading points early in the first set, Midland went on a decisive 11-2 run to open up a double-digit lead at 17-7. The Warriors kept the momentum, cruising to a 25-15 win. Seven different players recorded kills as Midland hit .343 in the opening frame. Lauren Jones, Brooklynn Snyder, and Macey Jackson each tallied four kills to lead the way.
In the second set, Dakota Wesleyan gained the upper hand after a 4-4 tie, stringing together a four-point rally to go up 8-5 and maintaining the lead deep into the set. Trailing 21-16, the Warriors rallied with a five-point surge to tie the score. After a back-and-forth finish, Midland staved off a DWU set-point and closed with kills from Snyder sandwiched around a Tigers’ attack error for a 27-25 victory. Snyder notched eight kills in the set as the team hit .286.
With the momentum firmly on their side, the Warriors jumped out early in the third set, leading 10-6 and later using a seven-point run to put the set out of reach. Midland led virtually wire-to-wire, trailing only after the opening point. The attack remained balanced, with four players recording multiple kills. Jackson led with four as the Warriors hit an impressive .542 with 15 kills and just two errors in the clinching set.
“I don’t think Dakota Wesleyan played its best, but I think we were a big part of that,” head coach Micah Rhodes said. “We served really aggressively and disrupted their offense. We had a really good defensive scheme based on their tendencies that didn’t allow them to get many free kills. I thought we did a really good job of sticking to our game plan and doing what we needed to.”
Midland hit .366 as a team for the match, fueled by setters Brena Mackling and Jaysa Wentzlaff. Mackling tallied 19 assists, while Wentzlaff added 16. Snyder led all attackers with 13 kills, followed by Jackson with 10. Jones contributed eight, and both Abree Pluegerand Cameran Jansky chipped in five apiece.
At the service line, the Warriors recorded five aces, led by Lily Bolden with three. Plueger and Snyder each added one.
Defensively, Midland posted five total blocks. Avery Couch, Snyder, and Jansky each had two block assists. In the back row, Claire Johnson posted a career-high 13 digs, with Delainey Cast joining her in double digits with 10. Plueger added seven digs.
Midland (10-6, 5-1 GPAC) will head to Sioux City, Iowa, next weekend for a pair of conference road matches. The Warriors face Briar Cliff (8-8, 2-4 GPAC) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and take on Morningside (9-7, 3-3 GPAC) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
