No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney 3, Pittsburg State 0
KEARNEY, Neb. -- Outside hitters Ashley Leitner and Liz McGowan combined for 25 kills to power fifth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney to a sweep of Pittsburg State (-11, -21, -14) on Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.
Now 27-3 all-time against the Gorillas, UNK improves to 10-1 (2-0 MIAA) while Pittsburg State falls to 3-7 (0-2).
A 2012 first-team All-American as a libero, McGowan has been filling at one outside hitter spot the past couple of weeks due to the Lopers various ailments.
She tied her career-high in kills (11) by the end of the second set and finished with 12 on a team-best .360 hitting percentage.
The MIAA leader in kills at 4.31 per set, Leitner tallied four of her team-best 13 kills in the third set. Like McGowan, she dug up nine balls.
After rolling through the first set, UNK had to fight off Pitt in the second stanza. Getting out to a 10-4 lead, the Lopers found themselves down 17-16 after a kill by outside Crystal Whitten (team-high 10 kills).
Kearney responded in a big way, going on an 8-1 run that featured three kills by McGowan, two from senior middle Katie Sokolowski and one by junior right side Steph Brand.
The momentum stayed on the Blue and Gold's side as the Lopers got out to a 9-1 lead in the final set. Pitt didn't help itself by having eight unforced attack errors down the stretch.
Besides Leitner and McGowan, Sokolowski hit .318 and had 11 kills. Finally, Kansas sophomore libero MJ Massanet had a match-high 12 digs.
No. 6 Central Missouri 3, Southwest Baptist 0
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Friday night in MIAA play, No. 6 Central Missouri swept Southwest Baptist 25-16, 25-22, 25-16.
With the win, Central Missouri remains undefeated overall in the season at 11-0 and undefeated in MIAA play with a record of 2-0. Southwest Baptist falls to 7-3 overall and 0-1 within conference play.
Central Missouri led most of the game with the exception of a short period during the second set when a tie was established and then SW Baptist led for a time.
The Mules regained the lead and held the game from that point on, sweeping with three consecutive set wins.
Taylor Goodness lead the way and registered 14 kills and Haley Thompson was close behind with ten. Becca Blaise had the most digs with 17 and Carly Sojka had ten for the Mules in the match.
Leading the way for Southwest Baptist was Nikkia Madoch with eight kills.
No. 8 UC San Diego 3, San Francisco State 0
SAN FRANCISCO -- Matching its best start in program history, eighth-ranked UC San Diego swept San Francisco State at The Swamp Friday night in both team's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener.
Scores were 25-20, 25-12 and 25-19. UCSD improved its unbeaten record to 9-0 overall, while SFSU fell to 5-4.
No. 9 Angelo State 3, Midwestern State 2
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Arielle Bond established a new career-high with 24 kills, including the 15th point in the fifth set to lead the Angelo State to a 3-2 Lone Star Conference win against upset-minded Midwestern State on Friday at the Junell Center.
The ninth-ranked Belles (7-2, 1-0 LSC) are now 2-0 in five set matches this season and extend their regular-season home winning streak to 22. ASU won the match 25-18, 24-26, 19-25, 25-22, 15-12 and has now beaten MSU in five consecutive matches. The Mustangs fall to 7-3 overall and to 0-2 in LSC play.
Maddie Huth added 11 kills and four blocks, while Leah McWilliams had 10 kills and eight digs. Defensively, Katie MacLeay had a career-high 24 digs with Shelby Wilt adding 17 and Haley Bianco 16. Maggi Jo Keffury ran the offense at the setter position and finished with 54 assists and had 14 digs. The fifth set was highlighted by a 7-2 run which took the score from 6-5 to 13-7 on three kills from Huth, two from Bond, one from Cerbi Ritchey and a MSU attacking error.
The career night for Bond also included tying her high with six blocks.
MSU, who fell to No. 15 West Texas A&M earlier in the week, rallied to take the second set and then overpowered the Belles to take the third set. Marija Jovanovic led the Mustangs with 55 assists and also had 13 digs from the setter position.
Kaitlyn Molloy led the Mustangs with 13 kills, while Nicole Marzik and Cailtlin Wallace had 12 kills each. Casey Fletcher had 27 digs with Madelyn Johnson adding 24 digs. The Mustangs defense limited the ASU offense to a .169 hitting percentage throughout the match, including a .146 percentage in the second set.
