UMAC Game of the Week: Northwestern at Minnesota Morris - Volleyball
UMAC Game of the Week Archives
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
This week's UMAC Game of the Week is Saturday's University ofMinnesota Morris and University of Northwestern volleyball game. The teams will meet for the second time this season with the UMAC Regular Season Championship trophy and UMAC Tournament seeds on the line. Northwestern (11-1 UMAC) looks to even the season score with Minnesota Morris (12-0 UMAC) on Saturday to claim at least a share of the UMAC regular season title. Game time is set for noon on Saturday, November 2 in Morris.
About the Cougars
Minnesota Morris and Northwestern will meet in the UMAC Game of the Week with a stake in the UMAC Regular Season Championship on the line. The Cougars and Eagles match went five sets earlier this year with Morris taking the match with a 15-11 win in the deciding fifth set.
UMM is hitting nearly .60 points higher in their wins this season and holding opponents to just .117 hitting. Serving has also been a big help in the 21 wins for the Cougars, averaging almost a full service per set more in their wins. On the year Minnesota Morris is 7-1 at home.
The Cougar offensive weapons of Abby Tietz, Emily Auch and Hannah Knott have all earned UMAC Offensive Player of the Week accolades this season while libero Caylie Clark has been named UMAC Defensive Player of the Week three times this fall. Minnesota Morris setter Mandy Allman has also earned UMAC Setter of the Week honors.
About the Eagles
The Eagles will need to win at Crown on Friday night to get to a 12-1 league record, setting up Saturday’s showdown at 12 Noon in Morris. If Northwestern were to beat the Cougars in their home gymnasium, the league title would be the Eagles’ third straight. UNW won the first two matches in its first bout against Minnesota Morris on Oct. 5, losing the third set 25-23.
As a team, UNW leads the league in many categories including kills per set (13.62), hitting percentage (.280), assists per set (12.79), and blocks per set (2.37). Four different Northwestern players are also first in their respective categories. Offensively, middle hitter Faith Vander Galien is atop the UMAC hitting percentage standings with a .427 rate in 38 sets this year. Vander Galien led the Eagles with 14 kills against the Cougars three weeks ago. Setter Kirsta Stoltz has 473 assists in 12 conference matches, a rate of 11.54 per set to lead all UMAC players. The 2012 AVCA Second Team All-American is currently ranked seventh in the nation in assists per set and is second among NCAA Division III active players in the career assists per set.
Defensively, libero Lexi Bertsch is first in the league in 5.67 digs per set while Cari Miller leads all UMAC players with an average of 1.5 blocks per set. Miller’s 1.32 blocks per set rate was tied for fifth place nationwide in the weekly statistics release produced by the NCAA on Tuesday.
Game Notes
Northwestern owns a 24-13 edge against Minnesota Morris in the all-time head-to-head match tally.
Since 2004, the Eagles are 18-3 versus the Cougars.
The Cougars are 11-4 in three set matches, 7-2 in four set matches and 3-3 in five set matches.
UNW’s Krista Stoltz has won five UMAC Setter of the Week awards this year. Lexi Bertsch is a three-time winner of the conference’s defensive player of the week award, including the UMAC’s most recent accolade on Oct. 29. Cari Miller has also grabbed UMAC Defensive Player of the Year honors this season.
Minnesota Morris has six attackers with over 150 kills on the year.
Northwestern hasn't lost two conference matches in the same season since the 2010 campaign when UNW went 11-3. If the Eagles were to beat Crown on Friday night, Northwestern would be 12-1 entering the UMAC Game of the Week.
Serve receive will be important for the Cougars to control the match.
Both Minnesota Morris and Northwestern are 1-0 in UMAC Games of the Week this season in volleyball.
Minnesota Morris Recap | Northwestern Recap |
Final Score UNW 3, UMM 1
For information on other contests around the league this week, visit the UMAC's
live scoreboard.