#3 UNK Rolls the #8 'Chos to Reach MIAA Finals Again
The third-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team used another balanced offensive attack and 13 blocks to sweep eight-ranked Central Oklahoma (-20, -16, -16) in the MIAA semifinals Friday night in St. Joseph, Mo.
The top-seeded Lopers (28-3) face third seed and seventh-ranked Washburn (27-3) Saturday at 6 p.m. for the title. The Ichabods beat seventh-seed Pittsburg, 3-1, in Friday's early match.
Earlier this year at the Health & Sports Center, UNK worked extra hard to beat a UCO squad (-16, -33, 20-25, -28) that was without MIAA Hitter of the Year Sydney Huck. She returned to the court a while ago and promptly had seven kills in her first nine swings tonight. However, no one else had more than four kills in the match for UCO as they hit just .129.
"Our girls were just sharp, and I think some of that was they watched enough of their match yesterday (a 3-0 sweep of No. 24 Emporia State) and saw how well they played," said UNK head coach Rick Squiers on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "It looked like they were going to be a handful, so we had all kinds of concerns. You do your best to prepare in a short period of time, and I think we soaked some of that in. Even when they scored, they didn't do anything to surprise us."
The Loper Block Party featured seven stuffs from redshirt sophomore middle Sydney Davis (Dannebrog), six swats from senior middle Abby Rose (Lindsborg, Kan.) and five blocks from graduate setter Peyton Neff (North Platte). This is the 11th double digit block night (three solo and 20 assisted) for UNK with six of those efforts coming over the last nine matches.
"We know Sydney can block; that's her forte. Anybody that's been in practice the last two years knows not to hit it at Syd," said Squiers. "Tonight, Abby got involved, Brynn and Peyton got a few. It got contagious and when we block like that, takes a lot of pressure off your backcourt people."
Huck's big first set helped UCO (27-5) hang around as they trimmed a 12-8 deficit to 18-17. However, kills by Rose and senior Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) and an unforced 'Chos error quickly made it 21-17. UCO didn't get closer than three the rest of the way and then found themselves down 15-9 in set two. A 7-1 Loper run broke an early tie and featured a Rose solo block and kills from three different players. Finally, UNK broke a 4-4 tie the final set thanks to a 5-0 run that included three blocks and strong serving by sophomore DS Anna Laincz (Lansing, Kan.).
"Outside of Huck they weren't connecting in other places. We were able to get some block touches and even Huck started to slow down a bit as we got some stops on her," said Squiers. "They start pressing and it's just the way the game bounces and the matchups sometimes."
UNK hit an even .400, its fourth highest effort of the year, with six players between three and 11 kills. That group included Kansas sophomore right side Brynn Stowell (11, .556 pct.), Lane (10) and Rose (6, .857 pct.). And running the show was Neff; 34 assists, nine digs and three kills.
"It's no secret; if we can set the ball outside and score, we feel pretty good about that. You'll have a hard time slowing us down," said Squiers. "We got a nice performance tonight from Brynn, got some kills from our middles and were able to come at them from a little bit of everywhere."
For the 'Chos, Huck ended up with 17 kills in 42 swings (.286 pct.)
UNK and WU split its two regular season matches with both teams winning at home. Last year, the 'Bods ended the Lopers season in the NCAA Tournament