Box Score 1 Kearney, Neb. – The 2nd-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team roared into the MIAA Tournament finals thanks to a sweep of Emporia State (-15, -10, -15) Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.

The top-seeded Lopers (32-2) push its winning streak to 14 straight while the fifth-seeded Hornets end the year at 20-12.

In the first match of the night, 8th-ranked and third-seeded Central Missouri outlasted 4th-ranked and second-seed Washburn in five sets (-22, 24-26, 13-25, -23, -11).

The Jennies (26-5) and UNK will play in the title match Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Earlier this year in the only meeting between the two, the Lopers posted a three sets win (-17, -15, -17).

UNK and ESU were tied at six all in the first set. From that point on, it was all Lopers.

Kearney pounded home 18 kills in the first set and allowed the Hornets to score only 25 points over the final two sets.

Among the top defensive teams in the country, UNK ended the match with 71 digs (23.6 avg.) as Emporia hit just .074 overall (26-17-122).

Senior outside Ariel Krolikowski (Grand Island) led the way with 13 kills, nine digs, two solo blocks and a .414 hitting efficiency. She is just four digs shy of becoming the 26th Loper with 1,000 career kills.

Four other Lopers had between five and nine kills, including freshman right side MJ Massanet (Manhattan, Kans.). She also dug up a team-best 22 balls

Finally, on her 21st birthday, junior middle Katie Sokolowski (Kearney Catholic) had eight kills and hit a team-best .571.

Emporia was paced by Paige Vanderpool, who had eight kills and seven digs.