KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Rockhurst University Hawks secured its second straight 3-0 win this weekend over the Northwest Missouri State University volleyball squad.
The Hawks won by set scores of 25-20, 25-13 and 25-21. Northwest finished with 32 kills and a .157 hitting percentage, while the Hawks totaled 42 kills and hit .326.
Northwest made its sharpest push late in the first set, trimming a 20-15 deficit to 20-18 on a
Maddie Roenfeld kill, an
Abby Bulthuis kill from
Lily Zimmerman and an
Ellery Luhring service ace. Earlier, Northwest settled in after the opening points, tying the set at 4-4 on
Gabrielle Gartner's kill from
Mya Karrick and moving ahead 5-4 on a Hawks attack error. RU answered with a run that included back-to-back service aces to go up 10-6, but Northwest kept working back behind kills from Bulthuis,
Sophia Gartner,
Natalie Herrington and
Gabrielle Gartner. After Northwest closed to 20-18, the Hawks scored the next four points before two late Bearcat points on RU errors, and the home team finished the set 25-20.
Northwest started the second set by answering the Hawks' opening point with kills from Roenfeld and Herrington, both set by Karrick, and
Sophia Gartner later put the visitors ahead 3-2. RU created the first separation by moving from a 5-4 edge to a 10-4 lead before
Gabrielle Gartner put down two kills around another Hawks point. The home team continued to stretch the set through the middle, but the Bearcats got a
Sophia Gartner kill from Karrick at 8-13 and back-to-back block points from
Sophia Gartner and Herrington, then Herrington and Bulthuis, to make it 11-18. Bulthuis added a late kill from Karrick, but RU closed the set with three of the final four points as Northwest dropped the set 25-13.
Northwest traded points deep into the third set before the Hawks claimed the final three points in a 25-21 set. Earlier,
Chloee Hayes opened the set with a kill from Karrick, and Karrick added a kill and a service ace as Northwest moved in front 5-4. RU later scored five straight points to turn a 9-8 Northwest Mo. St. edge into a 13-9 deficit. Northwest answered with
Grace Thorne's kill,
Londyn Smith's ace, Bulthuis' kill and later kills from Hayes and
Sophia Gartner, eventually moving ahead 16-15 on a Hawks attack error. Herrington and Karrick added late kills to keep the Bearcats within one at 20-21 and 21-22, but RU finished the set at 25-21.
Karrick finished with 27 assists, six digs, two kills and a service ace.
Sophia Gartner shared the team lead with seven kills and added a block assist. Bulthuis also recorded seven kills, adding four digs and a block assist. Luhring collected a team-high eight digs and added a service ace.
Northwest will take on Central Oklahoma Thursday at 6 p.m. in the home-opening match of the season.
