#8 Lopers Remain Hot, Sweep Adams & Mo.-St. Louis
Kearney, Neb. – The eighth-ranked Nebraska Kearney continued to show off its firepower and made some big plays on defense in the evening to sweep both Adams State (-16, -19, -15) and Missouri-St. Louis (-12, -27, -23) Friday at the Health & Sports Center.
This was day two of the annual Rosella Meier Fall Classic with the Lopers (8-0) facing South Dakota Mines Saturday at 4 p.m. to close out a long week.
Against the Grizzlies, UNK saw junior middle Mia Berg (Eureka, Mo.) hit .833 as she had 10 kills in 12 attempts with no errors. That ties for fourth best in school history and only the eighth time in the D2 era a Loper has reached the lofty .800 mark (minimum 10 kills).
The Lopers also got another big effort from senior outside Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) who had a team-best 12 kills and hit .400 with three others between six and eight kills. Overall, the Blue & Gold hit .385 with ASU coming in at .164. The Grizzlies also didn't help themselves by having nine service errors. Finally, junior libero Ellie Spang (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) had 12 digs and six assists with ASU paced by outside Hadleigh Richardson (10 kills, .409 pct., six digs).
The UMSL Tritons (4-2) took it on the chin in set one to close out the long day. UNK recorded four team blocks, hit .458 (12-1-24) and served up two aces to win by 13 points. However, UMSL didn't go away as they fought off three set points and then had one of their own. UNK used kills by junior outside Carly Purdy (North Platte) and senior middle Abby Rose (Lindsborg, Kan.) to reach set point again and finally closed set two out after the Tritons hit one into the net, 29-27.
A few points earlier, graduate setter Peyton Neff (North Platte) had a solo block to make 22-21. Next, redshirt sophomore middle Sidney Davis (Dannebrog) stayed in late to serve and one of her attempts resulted in an overpass and that kill by Rose.
Set three was equally as tough as Rose broke a 22-22 tie with her eighth and final kill of the match. After UMSL tied it up for the 29th and final time, Neff and Lane recorded kills to end things. Late in the third, Spang had a diving dig to help UNK maintain possession and recorded a key kill.
Purdy finished with a career-best 17 kills, Lane had 14 and Berg hit .389 (8-1-18). Finally, Spang dug up 13 balls, sophomore DS Rhyan Mock (Stilwell, Kan.) had 10 with Neff at 42 assists, five digs, three blocks and three kills.
The Tritons were led by lefty Alayna Santel (12 kills, .346 pct., seven digs) and libero Skylar Weaver (26 digs).
Other Tournament Scores
Sioux Falls 3, South Dakota Mines 0 (-20, -18, -22)
UMSL 3, South Dakota Mines 2 (19-25, -17, -25, 24-26, -11)
Sioux Falls 3, Adams State 0 (-22, -17, -19)