Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Play began in the Midland Showdown on Thursday night with a Top 10 battle as No. 9 Midland University went up against No. 8 Missouri Baptist University. The Warriors and Spartans went toe to toe in the opening set with MU taking it 25-23. They rode the momentum of that opening set win to take the second 25-22 and then the third 25-17 for the straight-set sweep.
“It was a big win for our players,” said head coach Paul Giesselmann. “We got off to a good start and our kids’ confidence just grew as the match went on. I think was important for us. We saw some glimpses of how good this team can be at various times in practice and then in our scrimmages against some [NCAA] division two teams. We just never saw any consistency until tonight.”
Abbey Ringler got things going with a kill from Brielle Power for the opening point of the night. Missouri Baptist responded with a 6-1 run and held the lead through the midpoint of the set. As the rotation got back around, Ringler and Power hooked up with three kills as Midland went on a 5-0 run.
Leading 15-12, the Warriors withstood a run by the Spartans as they tied the set at 21-21 and then 22-22. Ringler then got a hand on the defense teaming with Cortlyn Schaefer and then Jacki Apel to put the Warriors on set point. MBU righted their side with a kill but a service error ended the set, 25-23.
Set two began much the same way with the Spartans getting the early edge. Midland kept them close, never trailing by more than two points until MBU went on a 5-0 run to go up 14-11. That forced the Warriors into a timeout and they responded with a 7-1 run to take an 18-15 advantage.
A 3-0 run by the Spartans brought things back even and then they moved in front 20-19 at the end of a 4-1 run. Attack errors by the Spartans gifted the Warriors a pair of points as they moved up 23-20. The teams traded kills before a mishandling on the attack clinched it for Midland, 25-22.
With momentum from the two first sets, and the Spartans reeling with defensive substitutions in their back row, the Warriors took control of the third with a 5-1 start. They added a 4-0 run to double up the Spartans, 14-7 and never looked back.
Midland closed out the first night of the three-day showcase with another four-point run, winning 25-17.
On the attack, Ringler led the way with a match-high 16 kills on 24 swings (.542). She added three block assists as she was attributed with 17.5 points. Following close behind were the quartet of Lauren Williams, Jacki Apel, Cortlyn Schaefer, and Addy Mosier. Williams had seven kills while the other three had a half-dozen each.
Coordinating the offense were Brena Mackling and Brielle Power with 21 and 18 set assists respectively. As a team, Midland hit .238 for the match with 44 kills and just 19 errors.
“They [Mackling and Power] did a great job, moving the ball around. Got our hitters in good situations,” added Coach Giesselmann.
At the net, the Warriors had five blocks while the Spartans hit .247 with 37 kills and 13 errors. In the back row, Delanie Vallinch had a team-high 13 digs while Mackling had 7 and Power added 4.
Coach Giesselmann went on to say, “I thought our serving and passing was the difference in the match. We know we’ve got to be great in the serve-receive in order to set up our block and defense. We have to really enjoy this win. This is going to be a resume win for us as we look to get a bid to nationals at the end of the year. We’ve got to get some rest now because our first opponent tomorrow is even better.”
Midland (2-0) will be back on the court inside the Wikert Event Center twice on Friday. They’ll face No. 7 Viterbo, who won in four sets over Grand View earlier in the night, at 2:00 p.m. and then take on GVU at 7:00 p.m. to conclude day two. Matches get underway at 10:00 a.m. with No. 2 Corban facing Viterbo
