No. 22 Warriors Serve Up Postseason Win; Sweep Past Dordt

FREMONT, Neb. – With the regular season wrapped up earlier this week, the No. 22-ranked Midland University hosted Dordt University in the first round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) postseason tournament on Saturday night. The third-seeded Warriors set the tone early in the match, earning a quick 70-minute sweep of the sixth-seeded Defenders, 25-12, 25-17, 25-9. With the victory, they advance to the semifinals next week.

Midland started strong, scoring the match's first seven points with Kailyn Scott at the service line. Scott opened with an ace and added two more during the Warriors' quick start. Dordt broke the run with a block at the net and exchanged a few side-outs before Midland went on another run. Leading 16-7, the Warriors closed out the opening set with a 9-5 run behind stellar serve-receive play.

In the first set, the Warriors hit .444 with nine kills and one error while holding the Defenders to a -.069 mark with eight kills and 10 errors. Abbey Ringler paced the team with three kills and three block assists, while Lauren Williams and Brooklynn Snyder each had a pair of kills.

In the second set, Scott sparked the Warriors once more with a pair of aces, leading to a 5-0 start. As Delanie Vallinch rotated to the service line, she matched Scott's effort with two aces of her own as Midland moved out in front, 11-3. A four-point rally by Dordt cut into the lead, but Midland answered as Sydney Guthard recorded an ace to make it 17-9.

Down the stretch, the teams swapped short rallies, and the Warriors prevailed, 25-17. Ringler continued her hot night with four more kills and a block in the set, while Jacki Apel added two kills and two blocks. Snyder and Cameran Jansky each contributed two kills, with Jansky adding two blocks as well. Midland hit .205 in the set with 12 kills and four errors, while Dordt posted its best hitting set with a .086 (nine kills and six errors).

Facing elimination, the Defenders showed some fight at the start of the third set, taking an early 4-1 lead before the Warriors settled in. Seven straight points by Midland tilted the set in its favor, 8-4. After some side-outs from each side, the Warriors went on an 8-1 run to put the set and match out of reach. Two kills each from Claire Johnson and Williams highlighted a stretch of eight consecutive points to close out the set, 25-9.

Midland hit .400 in the third set with 11 kills and just one error, while Dordt was held to -.061 with seven kills and nine errors. Ringler and Johnson led the way in the final frame with three kills each.

"I'm really proud of the players. Even though we're such a young team, we've got some great leadership," commented head coach Paul Giesselmann after the match. "I thought we had a good game plan for Dordt, and it all started with serving. I thought this was one of our best serving nights all year. Our players, all six rotations, were really locked in. They had good movement and tempo on the ball and served where we needed them to, putting stress on their offense."

For the match, the Warriors had 11 aces, with Scott netting nearly half with five. Vallinch and Stella Kuehl each had two, while Guthard and Brena Mackling each added one.

Offensively, Kuehl and Mackling orchestrated the attack to its highest percentage of the year, a .317 hitting mark. Kuehl tallied 16 assists, while Mackling finished with 12. Ringler had a match-high 11 kills, while Williams had five.

At the net, the Warriors recorded seven total blocks, with Ringler participating in four of them. Jansky assisted on three blocks, while Apel, Williams, and Johnson each contributed two.

Midland (17-10) will look to avenge a pair of losses in the GPAC semifinals as they travel to face second-seeded and No. 2-ranked Concordia (23-2) next Wednesday. The teams will meet in Seward, Nebraska, on November 13, with first serve scheduled for 7:00 p.m. inside Friedrich Arena.