Courtesy of Midland Athletics
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – No. 18-ranked Midland University returned to Sioux City on Saturday night for a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) matchup with Morningside University. The Warriors came away with a hard-fought four-set victory over the Mustangs, 25-23, 27-25, 22-25, 25-23, in a match where only nine points separated the teams.
After taking the first two points of the opening set, Midland fell behind as the Mustangs went on a seven-point run. The deficit didn’t faze the Warriors, who chipped away to pull even at 14-14.
Following four more ties, a kill by Brooklyn Snyder and a Morningside attack error put Midland in control. The teams traded points the rest of the way before the Warriors closed out the set, 25-23.
The second set was equally competitive, with both sides trading runs and leads early on. Five ties in the middle of the set brought the score to 16-16. Morningside then scored back-to-back points and eventually reached set point at 24-22, prompting Midland to use its final timeout.
Out of the huddle, the Warriors responded with three straight points to earn their first set point. Morningside tied it at 25-25, but a kill by Lauren Jones followed by an ace from Abree Plueger sealed the comeback, giving Midland a two-set lead.
Looking for their second sweep in as many days in Sioux City, the Warriors jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set and stretched it to 14-5 before the Mustangs rallied. A 9-2 run pulled Morningside within two points on a pair of occasions. Trailing 22-18, the Mustangs strung together a seven-point surge to take the set and avoid the sweep.
Riding that momentum, Morningside controlled the early stages of the fourth set, leading 10-7. Midland regrouped and turned the deficit into an 18-13 advantage. The Mustangs battled back with a four-point swing but could never take the lead. The Warriors needed four match points to finish the job, ultimately winning the set, 25-23.
“That was an extremely tough match against a very solid opponent,” said Midland head coach Micah Rhodes. “When Morningside is on, they are hard to stop — especially on their court.
Our resiliency once again showed. If you look at the scores, three of the sets were decided by two points, and we came back from 24-22 down in the second. The match basically came down to a couple of points here and there, and thankfully we were on the right side of those. Very proud of our fight.”
Midland hit .201 as a team, recording 60 kills, while Morningside hit .145 with 50 kills. Four Warriors reached double figures in kills: Plueger and Snyder led the way with 16 each, Jones added 12, and Macey Jackson had 11.
The setting duo of Jaysa Wentzlaff and Brena Mackling kept the Mustangs guessing, as Wentzlaff dished out 25 assists and Mackling added 20.
Defensively, Sydney Guthard was stellar in the back row, recording a career-high 25 digs. Claire Johnson added 10. At the service line, the Warriors collected five aces, with Plueger delivering three.
“I thought our setters made great choices and distributed the ball well, as all four pins finished with double-digit kills,” Rhodes said. “Defensively, Syd was outstanding. She made some clutch plays in big moments that swung the momentum back into our favor.
To be 7-1 through the first half of conference play is an incredible accomplishment. We keep getting better, which is what you want to see at this point in the season.”
Midland (12-6, 7-1 GPAC) sits in third place at the midway point of the conference season. The Warriors return home next weekend for back-to-back matches. They will host Waldorf (9-7, 1-7 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a showdown with No. 7-ranked Northwestern (16-3, 8-0 GPAC) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
