UNION, N.J. – Nebraska Wesleyan capped a successful opening weekend as the Prairie Wolves won a pair of five-set thrillers on Saturday to conclude the Kean volleyball invitational that was played in Union, New Jersey. The Prairie Wolves rallied back to defeat the host school Kean, 3-2, then closed out the invite with a 3-2 win over SUNY New Paltz.
Against the host school to open the morning, the Prairie Wolves dropped the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-18 and looked like they would be swept. However, the Prairie Wolves came back with dominating 25-18 and 25-10 wins to send it to a fifth set.
In the fifth set, NWU had three set points early but the match was then tied at 14, 15, 16 and 17. With the score 17-17,
Kierra Harder recorded a kill giving NWU another match point. Senior
Sidney Mell closed the match with a kill to give the Prairie Wolves the win.
NWU had five players reach double figures in kills as they pounded out 64 as a team. Mell led the way posting a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs.
Cora Svoboda had 12 kills and a .381 hitting percentage. Harder,
Kylie Sestak and
Hannah Bellinghausen each had 10 kills in the match.
Anna Gottsch led the way with 27 assists with
Lizzie Saale posting 21 digs.
Coming off an emotional victory, the Prairie Wolves had little time to prepare for the final match of the invite against SUNY New Paltz. They won the first set 25-17, but dropped the next two in scores of 25-22, 25-23. Set four was the most competitive with NWU finally coming out ahead 27-25.
Set five was controlled by the Prairie Wolves as they led 7-2 and never looked back. The score got as close as 10-6, then NWU rattled off six straight points to clinch the victory.
Harder had a huge match in the victory to lead the Prairie Wolves. She posted a double-double of 17 kills and 17 digs.
Karrie Sestak had 13 kills and Bellinghausen chipped in 11. Gottsch and
Kelsie Stovall both handed out 25 assists in the win. Saale once again led the team with 28 digs.
Kierra Harder was selected to the Kean Invite All-Tournament team when all the matches were concluded.
NWU will now prepare to host the P-Wolf Invitational next Saturday in Snyder Arena.
