No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul 3, Augustana 0
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Concordia-St. Paul (17-1, 9-0 NSIC) knocked off the Augustana Vikings in consecutive sets (14-3, 6-3 NSIC) to extend their winning streak to 15 matches. Concordia also extended its NSIC regular season winning streak to 23, dating back to a trip to Minnesota-Duluth on September 28, 2012. The Golden Bears improved to 18-1 all-time against Augie, winning 18 in a row.
Kayla Koenecke followed up a career performance last night by picking up her 10th double-double on the year with 14 kills and 16 digs. She hit an efficient .500 for the match. Emily McDonough finished off an outstanding weekend of her own by falling just short of a double-double with eight kills and a team best 18 digs.
Erienne Lauersdorf also finished in double digits in kills with 10. All-American setter Amanda Konetchy kept up her solid play with 43 assists and five digs after setting a school record for assists in a match last night.
No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth 3, Mary 0
BISMARCK, N.D. -- Minnesota-Duluth won eight of the first ten points on Saturday night in Bismarck and held serve the rest of the way, defeating the Mary in consecutive sets.
After their strong start, the Bulldogs (18-1, 8-1 NSIC) traded points with the Marauders (3-13, 0-9 NSIC) through the majority of the first set before taking finally taking game one 25-17. Game two saw UMD collect four-, five-, and six-point runs as they rolled past Mary 25-10. The Bulldogs utilized a 12-3 run in the third set to seal the sweep with a 25-14 final-set victory.
After another dominant performance collecting 19 kills, senior outside hitter Kate Lange moved up one more spot and now sits second in the all-time ranks at UMD. At 1,759 for her career, she is 84 back of Vicky Braegelman for most in a Bulldog career. Lange also added one solo block to move into fourth-place all-time at UMD in that category with 90.
No. 3 Tampa 3, Nova Southeastern 0
TAMPA, Fla. -- No. 3 Tampa continued its Sunshine State Conference streak as it defeated Nova Southeastern 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in the Martinez Athletic Center.
The Spartans improve to 14-1 and 6-0 in the SSC, while the Sharks drop to 3-11 and 0-6 in conference. With the victory, Tampa’s SSC streak swells to 25 consecutive wins since 2011.
Outside hitter Berkley Whaley led the Spartans to the tune of 10 kills, while Holly Reschke and Jessica Wagner following closely behind her with eight and seven kills, respectively. Wagner blocked a total of four Shark kill attempts.
Outside hitter Sydney Cook stepped up for the Sharks tallying 12 kills. NSU libero Candice Johnson notched 13 digs in the match.
No. 4 Central Missouri 3, Harding 2
ROLLA, Mo. -- Central Missouri (20-0, 6-0 MIAA) won its second five set match of the season against Harding (17-8, 6-0 GAC) in their final match of the Missouri Southern Invitational Crossover. The Jennies won the first set of the match, 25-17, but lost the second and third, 19-25, 22-25, only to rally and win their fourth and fifth set of the match, 25-18,15-11.
The first set began with two kills from Maddie Jones to start the set. The Jennies won the last eight of nine points in the set, Haley Thompson with four kills, and Carly Sojka with two.
Harding took the lead early in the second set after winning the first point of the set. Harding won six points in a row at in the first ten points of the set, taking the score to 7-3. Thompson hit .600 in the second, with three kills.
The Jennies won the seven of the first ten points in the third set, taking a 7-3 lead, Goodness with two kills, and Annie Reilly with a serving ace. Central Missouri caught up to the Bison at 19-19 ,and again at 22-22, but Harding drilled in the final three points in a row, winning the set at 22-25.
Harding didn't catch Central Missouri again to force the fifth set, the Jennies won the final two points of the set with another kill by Jones, and a block by Jones and Goodness. Sojka finished the fourth set with six kills, hitting .417.
In the fifth and final set of the weekend for the Jennies, the score was tight between the teams, with seven tie scores before either team reached ten points. Central Missouri reached double digits first, before holding Harding to 11 points, scoring their last three points of the set.
No. 5 BYU-Hawaii 3, Hawaii-Hilo 1
HILO, Hawaii -- BYU-Hawaii downed Hilo 3-1 (25-10, 25-19, 19-25, 25-11 ) on Saturday night.
The Seasiders (13-1, 8-1) hit at .273 clip but limited the Vulcans to just a .099 hitting percentage with solid defense. Shih Ting Chen led the match with 19 kills on a .386 hitting percentage. She also posted 19 digs. Erica Willes gave the offense another big punch with 12 kills. Ying Chun Chen added 46 assists while Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo posted 25 digs.
No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State 3, Upper Iowa 0
MARSHALL, Minn. -- For the sixth consecutive match, No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State swept an opponent as the Mustangs defeated Upper Iowa in consecutive sets on Saturday afternoon. SMSU earned the match victory with set scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-17.
SMSU improved its season record to 14-3 overall, 9-0 in the NSIC with the win, while UIU dropped to 6-12, 2-7 in the NSIC. It was the 17th win for SMSU in a series that the Mustangs have never lost.
The Mustangs were led by performances from Claire Sames and Abbey Thissen as they each finished with 12 and 13 kills, respectively. The offense was smooth and efficient as SMSU combined to hit .363 and owned a 81 percent sideout percentage.
No. 7 Western Washington 3, Western Oregon 0
MONMOUTH, Ore. -- Middle blocker Kayla Erickson had match highs of 12 kills and four block assists as Western Washington swept Western Oregon 25-22, 25-14, 25-14 on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the New P.E. Building on the WOU campus.
The Vikings, ranked No.7, improved to 13-1 overall and 6-0 in league action with their sixth consecutive win. All six of their conference wins have been sweeps and they have won 12 matches in the minimum three games this season.
Western Oregon fell to 5-12 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
Rachel Roeder and Kelsey Moore each had nine kills and three block solos for the Vikings. Emily Boerger added six kills and three block solos.
No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney 3, Merrimack 0
No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney 3, New Haven 0
WEST HAVEN, Conn. -- Sophomore MJ Massanet had 26 total kills as Nebraska-Kearney swept both Merrimack (25-17, 25-14, 25-9) and New Haven (25-19, 25-18, 25-15) on Saturday afternoon in West Haven, Conn.
The Lopers, who also beat Pace on Friday in New York, are now 18-2 on the season.
Massanet had 13 kills in both matches. She has registered at least 10 kills in each of the last six matches.
Against the Merrimack Warriors (7-9), UNK hit .333 and was plus 13 in the serve game. The first set featured 10 ties and two lead changes with the Lopers finishing on an 11-3 run that featured three kills by Massanet.
UNK just rolled from there, getting 10 kills from senor outside Ashley Leitner and nine kills and three blocks from freshman middle Bailey Sokolowski.
The New Haven Chargers (12-4) put up the biggest fight of the weekend. However, UNK held UNH to a .056 hitting efficiency and overcame 11 Charger blocks to win in consecutive sets.
In the middle, the Sokolowski sisters combined for 16 kills and three blocks with Leitner having nine kills and five digs. Besides 33 assists, sophomore setter Erin Seele dug up a team-best 14 balls.
No. 10 Angelo State 3, Tarleton State 0
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Shelby Wilt had 26 digs and Leah McWilliams recorded 14 kills to help lead No. 10-ranked Angelo State to a Lone Star Conference sweep of Tarleton State on Saturday at the Junell Center.
The Belles (12-5, 5-3 LSC) snapped a three-match losing streak in the process and improved to 8-1 at home this season. The TexAnns fall to 9-7 overall this season and to 4-2 in LSC play with the loss.
"Anyone who was paying attention knew that we were in some kind of funk," Wilt said. "We had to get back to playing our game and focusing on what we do well. That was a good match to get in three and help with our confidence. I feel like we can continue pulling through this and become an even stronger team than we were before the losing streak."
Angelo State finished the match with a 95-80 dig advantage in a match where the two teams were even with two blocks each. Wilt's 26 digs is her season's high, while McWilliams finished the match with a .324 hitting percentage and five digs. Maddie Huth and Arielle Bond each had eight kills with Maggi Jo Keffury leading the offense with 33 assists in the match.
