1 week Ago By UNK Sports Information
The fourth-ranked University of Nebraska at Kearney volleyball team had 29 kills and hit .412 over the final two sets to rally past 26th-ranked Missouri Western 21-25, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21, 25-11 Thursday night in St. Joseph, Missouri.
With the win, the Lopers (27-1, 14-1) swept the season series from the Griffons (21-6, 11-4) and earned a share of the MIAA regular-season title. UNK finishes the regular season today at Northwest Missouri while Central Oklahoma (12-2) hosts Washburn and Emporia State this weekend. Missouri Western took a 2-1 lead after routing the Lopers in the third set in which they led 20-9.
UNK hit just .083 while the Griffons hit .389.
The Griffs registered 29 kills over the final two sets but hit .240 in the fourth and couldn't keep pace with the Lopers in the fifth. In the fourth, things were tied at 19 before UNK closed on a 6-2 run.
The points came via three straight kills by junior middle Abby Rose, another one from sophomore outside Carly Purdy, a block and unforced Missouri Western attack error. UNK came out strong in the fifth set. A kill from senior outside Asha Regier made it 6-1 but the Griffs chipped away and were down just 11-9 after two Taylor Russell kills.
It then appeared the Griffons cut the lead to one, but a video review overturned the call and gave Regier another kill. The Lopers closed things out with kills by Regier and Rose. Overall, Mo West hit 27 points higher, had 12 more kills and 11 more digs with UNK having two more blocks and were plus-four in the serve game.
Rose hit .452 with her 15 kills a new career-high effort. Earlier this year, she had 10 against Drury and Missouri Southern.
She also added five blocks with Mia Berg adding a career-high 10. Purdy came off the bench early and had 13 kills and hit .333 with Regier warming up in the fifth set to have 12 kills.
In the back row, libero Alli Wiese had 24 digs and two of UNK's four aces. Russell amassed 24 kills, six blocks, two digs and hit .377 to pace Missouri Western.
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