UNK Volleyball: #3 Lopers Start Busy Week with 4-Set Win at Hays

Sophomore middle Mia Berg had a career-high 19 kills and graduate libero Alli Wiese reached 20 digs for a fourth straight match to help third-ranked Nebraska Kearney get past Fort Hays State in four sets (25-27, -17, -22, -16) Tuesday night in Kansas.

This is the first of two meetings between the Lopers (17-0, 5-0) and Tigers (9-5, 1-4) as Hays comes to Buckle Court on Oct. 25.

To beat its rival for a 36th consecutive time, UNK had 23 more kills and dug up 72 balls on a hot night in Gross Memorial Coliseum. However, a physical Tiger squad managed 15.0 team blocks, the most by a Loper opponent this season. The blue & gold also had 12 unforced attack errors and three service miscues.

"I had butterflies for this match. I watched them play Missouri Western and give them all kinds of trouble," said UNK head coach Rick Squiers. "They are a much-improved Fort Hays State team. Some of the things they haven't done well in the past, like serving and passing, are better now. They put a ton of pressure on you from the service line."

Hays managed to take the opening set despite UNK having 22 kills. The Tigers overcame that by hitting .317 (16-3-41), taking advantage of three service errors and recording five team blocks. They held several early leads before UNK turned the tide and moved ahead by three at 21-18. However, the Tigers closed on a 9-4 run that featured two blocks and four unforced Loper errors.

"They are big, they are physical. They are just not yet at a point where I think they believe and if they were, I think we would've been in trouble in this one," said Squiers. "The match may have gone differently had we be able to win the first. I wasn't disappointed that it was close, but I thought we'd clawed our way over the hump."

The black & gold then jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the fourth, highlighted by five kills and three blocks. Sophomore outside Carly Purdy (North Platte) entered, quickly got a kill and then senior right side Lauren Taubenheim (Lincoln Pius) served up seven straight points. The Lopers didn't trail again.

"We showed a lot of grit tonight especially in the fourth. Nothing was looking good and part of the reason we even brought some people into the match was because, just in case we went to a fifth, they would at least be in the flow," said Squiers. "We were just stuck in that rotation (down 11-5) and couldn't get anything going."

Berg (Eureka, Mo.) reached her kill tally in 42 swings (.286) with her previous career high coming just last Saturday vs. Northwest Missouri (16). Next, Purdy and junior middle Trista Marx (Limon, Colo.) both had four kills in the fourth with outsides Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) and Asha Regier (Newton, Kan.) combining for 25 more. In her return home, Lane hit .308 and was two shy of her career-high kill total. Also on offense, junior middle Abby Rose (Lindsborg, Kan.) hit .421 and had nine kills. 

UNK out hit FHSU by 66 points with setter Peyton Neff (North Platte) at 62 assists, nine digs, two block assists and a kill. Finally, Wiese (Mattawan, Mich.) got to an even 20 balls with Taubenheim providing 14 more digs. At the net Berg had a team-best four stuffs.

Hays was led by Gracie Rains (13 kills and four blocks), Claire Olson (13 kills, .500 pct., six blocks) and Taytum Lovesee (six kills and 11 blocks)

UNK hosts Emporia State and Washburn this weekend.