UNK Volleyball: #8 Lopers Push Win Streak to Seven

 The eighth-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team got big performances from middle Sydney Davis and right side Brynn Stowell to sweep both Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) and Rollins (Florida) Friday in Northern California.

The matches are part of the "Redwood Coast Volleyball Classic" hosted by Cal Poly Humboldt. The Lopers (7-1) finish up a long week with a match vs. Jessup (California) Saturday at 1 p.m. Central.

After suffering a season-open sweep at the hands of Colorado Mesa, the Lopers have now reeled off seven straight sweeps. They got past the Nighthawks (-22, -17, -17) Friday morning and then took care of the Tars (-25, -12, -19) in the afternoon.

Against Rollins from Winter Park, Fla., Stowell (Olathe, Kan.) led the way by having a match-high 16 kills and hitting .517. She also provided a solo block and six digs. UNK hit .378 in set three (15-1-37) and rallied from deficits of 23-19 and 24-21 in set one. To finish that set on a 6-1 run, the Lopers got a couple of kills from outside Grace Schmedding (Olathe, Kan.) and took advantage of two Tar unforced errors.

Besides Stowell's heroics, five others were between four and seven kills, including Schmedding and Davis (.429 pct.). Finally, libero Ellie Spang (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) dug up 24 balls.

Davis (Dannebrog) had 10 kills and hit and even .500 as UNK handed the 'Hawks (5-1) its first loss of the year. The Lopers amassed 71 digs in just three sets led by setter Callie Squiers (16), Spang (14) and freshman Taryn Arbuthnot (11) with Northwest Nazarene hanging around in all three sets. However, they hit only .079 and had five service errors. Besides Davis, seven others had a kill in the sweep including eight from outside Carly Purdy (North Platte) and six from Stowell.