No. 6 Warriors Drop Pair of Top 20 Matches to Start Season

MARION, Ind. – No. 6-ranked Midland University opened up its 2024 season on Thursday at the IWU Invitational against a pair of ranked teams. In the first match of the day inside Luckey Arena in Marion, Indiana, No. 16 IU Kokomo rallied back to win in four sets over the Warriors (18-25, 25-22, 29-27, 25-14). The second match of the day for Midland came against the tournament host and defending NAIA National Champions, No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan. After a highly-contested opening set, the Wildcats extended their winning streak to 39 matches with a sweep (28-26, 25-18, 25-12).

IU Kokomo 3, Midland 1

The Warriors started strong, taking a 6-2 lead with kills from Addy Mosier and Jacki Apel in the early stages. The four-point lead expanded to seven (14-7) as the Cougars were forced into errors on the attack. Abby Ringler and Lauren Jones teamed up for a block in the rally while Brooklynn Snyder picked up a pair of kills during the first rotation of her collegiate career.

As the set reached its close, Snyder and Ringler floored back-to-back sets to give the Warriors a 25-18 win. Midland hit .270 in the set with 15 kills while limiting Kokomo to a .054 mark.

Set two saw the teams go back and forth at the net with the Warriors holding a slight edge early, 10-8. The Cougars jumped back into the set with a 5-1 rally behind some momentum from their fans who had made the short drive.

With the set tied at 17-17, Kokomo used a 4-1 run to take control as they evened the match with a 25-22 set-two win. Midland was forced into 10 errors with just 11 kills (.026) in the set while its counterpart went for 12 kills and a .146 hitting percentage.

That momentum spilled into the third as the Cougars pounced in front with three straight points. They were the first to double-digits while doubling up the Warriors, 10-5, and then continued out to a 15-9 lead. Midland went on an 8-1 run to move in front (17-16) and were sitting on set-point at 24-21.

The Cougars earned a pair of points, prompting a timeout from the Warriors. The break wasn't enough to stop the rally as they went on to take the lead. After ties at 26-26 and 27-27, the Kokomo took the third set by a 29-27 score. Both teams hit near the .200 mark with MU a shade over at .204 (14 kills with 4 errors) and IUK just under at .196 (20 kills and 10 errors).

The fourth set saw three ties on the scoreboard through the first ten points. The Cougars broke the 5-5 score with a 10-5 run that set them up for a closeout finish. The Warriors tried to get things going but could never hold serve. A 5-1 run by Kokomo sealed the set 25-14 and the match 3-1.

For the match, Midland hit .108 with 48 kills and 30 attacking errors. IU Kokomo finished with a mark of .143 with 52 kills and 28 miscues.

Jacki Apel and Brooklynn Snyder led the way on the attack with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Abbey Ringler was a force at the net with 7 total blocks to go with 6 kills. Defensively, Delanie Vallinch paced the team with 28 digs from her libero position. Delainey Cast was one dig shy of double-digits with 9 in her collegiate debut.

"We have to do a better job of decision-making and cutting down on errors," commented head coach Paul Giesselmann after the first match. "Kokomo is a legit Top 10 team and you can't have 45 errors against a quality team like that. We have a young team and I expect us to have some struggles in August, but we have to learn and grow as a team. We had some stretches of good volleyball and had a chance to go up in game three but made a couple of mental and physical mistakes at the end."

Indiana Wesleyan 3, Midland 0

After a brief break, the Warriors were back on the court as they took on the defending national champions. Midland took the first three points from the host school, Indiana Wesleyan before they responded with four points. It was an early season high-level match as the players went back and forth. Kills by the Warriors' veteran middles, Abbey Ringler and Jacki Apel, set the tone on one side while the Wildcats countered with their veterans, Abbigail Porter and Eva Joldersma who were the NAIA National Setter and National Player of the Year in 2023.

Trailing 10-8, Midland went on a four-point run behind a kill and two blocks by Apel at the net. That run was briefly stopped before another run put them up 15-11. Lauren Jones had a pair of kills while Brooklynn Snyder had one in the three-point rally that forced a Wildcat timeout.

The break in action shifted the momentum back to the home team as they responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead back, 17-15. Midland evened the score and started a finish that saw five ties and two lead changes. The final tie came at 26-26 before a pair of kills by the Wildcats gave them the first set, 28-26.

Both defenses were stout in the set as they forced 10 hitting errors. IWU hit .118 with 16 kills while Midland had 12 kills and hit .043 for the set.

Set two saw a strong start for the Warriors as they moved out to a 4-2 lead. The Wildcats battled back to force a tie at 7-7. After trading the next six points, IWU started a 5-1 run to go up 15-11. Following a brief exchange of side outs, the Wildcats went on a match-changing 6-0 run to put the second set out of reach. Midland used a four-point run late to keep the score from getting too far out of hand, falling 25-18.

The third set saw Indiana Wesleyan's momentum roll on. It opened up a 7-2 lead early and was in control throughout. After swapping points, the Wildcats used a 9-1 run to go up 22-10. They wrapped up the sweep with three of the final five points for the 25-12 win.

IWU hit a match-best .414 on the attack with 13 kills and just one error. Midland was saddled with 5 attack errors to counter its 7 kills for a .062 mark on the attack.

For the match, the Warriors hit .051 with 27 kills and 21 errors. The Wildcats had 42 kills against 17 errors for a .195 attack percentage. Brooklynn Snyder led the way with 8 kills for Midland while Abbey Ringler and Lauren Jones were the next-highest attackers with 7 and 6, respectively.

Defensively, two players reached double-digit digs. Delanie Vallinch had a match-high 22 while Kailyn Scott dug up 13 attacks. At the net, the Warriors had 7 blocks as a team. Jacki Apel had a hand in on 6 of them while Lauren Jones was in on 3 block assists.

"I really liked how we competed in game one against the national champs," said head coach Paul Giesselmann. "We were focused and played hard every point. Unfortunately, we couldn't sustain that level of play. That is what we are using this trip for. Learning how focused you have to be on every point. Indiana Wesleyan has great players and they are also a great serve and passing team. They caused a lot of problems for us today. Tomorrow is another good opponent and an opportunity to get better."

Midland (0-2) will look to bounce back on Friday with a mid-morning match against Grace (1-0). The Warriors and Lancers will open up the day with a 10:00 a.m. (ET) tilt back inside Luckey Arena.