October 10, 2008

Volleyball Wins Battle with Mesa State

Walkowiak Has Career Night; 6th Longest Win Streak in Loper Lore

      Kearney, Neb. –  Sophomore middle hitter Jeri Walkowiak had a career-high 20 kills, and sophomore outside Chelsie Carson added 11, to help the 9^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team beat Mesa State in four sets (-16, -26, 24-26, -18) Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.

      UNK (20-1, 9-0 RMAC) wins its 20^th consecutive match while the Mavericks fall to 8-9 (6-4 RMAC) on the year. Mesa came into the night in second place in the RMAC’s West Division.

      The 20 straight wins is the sixth longest streak in UNK history and the third longest of the Rick Squiers era (1999-present).

      UNK got out to a 1-0 lead by finishing the first set on a 14-5 run. Hitting .323 as a team, Walkowiak (Grand Island) and Carson (Elkhorn) combined for seven of the Lopers 12 kills. Mesa, on the other hand, had 11 of its 32 attack errors in the first set.  

      The Lopers then jumped out to a 7-3 lead in game two but Mesa fought back and the set would feature 12 ties and six lead changes. A kill from senior middle Juli Minicz (Waverly) put Kearney ahead 24-21 but the Mavericks fought off game point five straight times.

      Finally, back-to-back unforced Mesa errors gave UNK the set, 28-26, and a 2-0 match lead.  

      The third game would actually be tighter then the second as there were 16 ties and seven lead changes. A kill from Walkowiak, her sixth of the set, put UNK at match point but Mesa scored the final three points on two unforced UNK errors and a kill from Gabrielle Lovato.

      This marked only the second set the Lopers have lost at home all year. Truman State beat the Lopers, 25-9, back on September 5^th.

       Walkowiak made sure there wouldn’t be back-to-back set losses as she had eight kills in nine swings in the third set. UNK finished the match on a 17-10 run and got back-to-back kills from junior middle Nikki Scott (Broken Bow) to end the night.

       For the night, UNK out hit the Mavericks, .221 to .135. Each team recorded 64 digs with Mesa winning the block battle, 9-7. Finally, Mesa hurt itself with 10 service errors and no aces.

       In reaching the 20 kill mark, Walkowiak had just three errors in 35 swings for a stellar .486 attack percentage. Besides Carson, who hit .226, the Lopers got nine kills from Scott and eight from junior outside Erica Burson (Gross Catholic).

     Six-foot three freshman outside hitter Corinne Cascioppo had 20 kills, and 12 errors, for Mesa. Junior outside Alisan Tompkins, who has a history of hurting the Lopers, finished with 11 kills and eight digs.

     Defensively, junior libero Kelli Wemhoff (Humphrey) dug up 20 balls with sophomore setter Cola Svec (Elkhorn) having 14. Both Scott and Walkowiak had three blocks a piece. Mesa’s libero, Ashely Loftsgard, also had 20 digs with Jessica Bird having a match-high five blocks.

    UNK hosts Fort Lewis tomorrow.