ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - The No. 8-ranked Missouri Western Griffons remained hot with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team Friday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
The Griffons won by set scores of 25-19, 25-14 and 25-10. The Griffons moved to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in MIAA play. It was the sixth straight match win for the Griffons, who extended their consecutive sets streak won to 18. Northwest dropped to 5-8 overall and 2-1 in league matches. Northwest is 1-3 vs. ranked oppponents this season.
Northwest turned an early 6-4 deficit into a 9-7 lead in the first set, using a block by
Maddie Roenfeld and
Gabrielle Gartner before kills from
Gabrielle Gartner and
Jada Smith. MWSU answered with five straight points, moving Northwest from a 9-7 lead into a 12-9 deficit, and the Bearcats spent the rest of the set trying to close the gap.
Ellery Luhring served an ace to bring Northwest within 14-12, and
Sophia Gartner,
Elle Heckenlively,
Jada Smith and Roenfeld added kills during the middle and late stages. Northwest got as close as 22-18 after Roenfeld's kill, but the Griffons scored three of the final four points to take the set 25-19.
Northwest could not recover after MoWest turned a 7-5 lead into a 13-5 deficit, a stretch that included three Northwest attack errors and helped create the separation in the second set. Earlier, Northwest answered with kills from
Natalie Herrington,
Gabrielle Gartner and
Jada Smith as the teams traded points through a 5-7 start. Roenfeld and
Mya Karrick combined on a block to make it 7-13, and Karrick later added a service ace during a three-point Northwest response that brought the score to 11-17. Heckenlively had Northwest's final kill at 14-23, but MWSU scored the last two points to take the set 25-14.
Northwest was put under pressure early in the third set after Karrick's kill tied it at 1-1, as the Griffons answered with six straight points to build a 7-1 lead. Herrington,
Gabrielle Gartner and
Abby Bulthuis each put down kills as Northwest tried to slow the run, but MoWest continued to stretch the margin behind blocks, kills and two Holly Heldt service aces.
Chloee Hayes added a kill before
Lily Zimmerman served consecutive aces, giving Northwest three straight points to reach 18-8. Bulthuis later added another kill, but MWSU scored the final two points of the set and finished off a 25-10 decision.
Karrick finished with 17 assists, 10 digs and a service ace. Luhring recorded a team-high 14 digs and added two assists and an ace.
Sophia Gartner led Northwest with five kills. Zimmerman tallied two service aces and nine digs.
Up next, Northwest will travel to Warrensburg, Mo., to face Central Missouri on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m.
