LINCOLN, Neb. - The Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves (11-8, 0-2 A-R-C) fell to No. 17 Dubuque (18-4, 2-0 A-R-C) 3-2 on Friday night at Snyder Arena, dropping a 20-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 15-17 decision on Cure SMA Night. Senior
Molly Ramirez reached 1,000 kills in her collegiate career with her first kill in the first set and finished with a double-double.
Molly Ramirez led NWU with 19 kills on .196 hitting and added 15 digs for a double-double, along with two aces and 23 points.
Macy Plucker added 17 kills and a team-high 24 points, and
Ella Foote finished with nine kills on .226 hitting and five block assists.
Mikyna Stoppkotte hit .316 with eight kills and two blocks, while
Jera Schuerman added five kills.
Elecea Saathoff posted a double-double, as she had 48 assists and 13 digs.
Grayson Piening added a team-high 21 digs and two assists. NWU out-aced Dubuque 9-8.
Ramirez put away a kill to open the match for the 1,000th of her career at NWU. Nebraska Wesleyan jumped out to an early lead in the opening set thanks to another kill from Ramirez to take a 4-1 lead, but Dubuque came back and tied it at four apiece. The Spartans pushed ahead 12-8, but the Prairie Wolves chipped away behind a Ramirez kill and a Stoppkotte kill to pull within 12-13. The Prairie Wolves then tied the set at 14 behind two Spartan errors. Dubuque answered with a 5-1 run and built a 19-23 lead, but the Prairie Wolves found a brief kill from Foote to get to 20. The Spartans closed out the 25-20 set from there.
Dubuque controlled the majority of the second set. The Spartans built an 8-4 lead, and after Nebraska Wesleyan pulled within 8-6, the Spartans sided out and built the lead back to 15-11. Back-to-back kills from Plucker and Ramirez brought the Prairie Wolves to 15-12, and kills from Schuerman, Foote, Ramirez and Stoppkotte made it 20-19 in favor of the Prairie Wolves. Dubuque answered with two straight points to regain the lead, but back-to-back kills from Plucker and a service ace from Ramirez restored the cushion, and Foote closed out the 25-23 set with ka kill. Plucker led NWU with five kills in the frame.
The third set was the biggest disparity of the match, but still had six ties and a lead change. Dubuque led 12-8 before Ramirez put down two kills, sandwhiching a Schuerman ace pulled the Prairie Wolves within 11-12. Dubuque controlled the set from there. The Spartans would take the set, 25-16.
The fourth set was another tight one. Stoppkotte opened the set with a kill that built momentum for an 8-6 lead. It was back and forth from there with eight ties in the set. With the set tied at 17, the Prairie Wolves gained a huge advantage with a 4-0 run with two kills from Schuerman, one from Stoppkotte and a Spartan error. Ramirez put down a kill that brought up set point at 24-20. Dubuque fought to 24-23, before a Foote kill sealed the 25-23 set, as NWU hit .267 with two aces in the frame to force a fifth.
Nebraska Wesleyan scored the first three points of the fifth set, and kills from Ramirez and Schuerman extended the lead to 7-3. The Spartans went on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the fifth set, but Stoppkotte sided out with a kill to tie it at eight. The two teams matched points up to 12-12. The Prairie Wolves forced match point and a Dubuque timeout at 14-12. Dubuque answered with three straight points and forced a match point of their own. A Spartan attack error tied it again at 15, but UD would close out the final two points to avoid the upset.
NWU will be back tomorrow morning for Senior Day against Loras, at 11:00 AM.
