Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The co-2nd-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team got 30 combined kills from senior outside Ariel Krolikowski and junior middle Katie Sokolowski to sweep 4th-ranked Washburn (-20, -15, -18) Thursday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament in St. Paul, Minn.
 
The Lopers (34-2) play Friday at 5:00 p.m. against co-No. 2 SW Minnesota State. The Mustangs (30-2) swept 13th-ranked Truman State in the day's second match.
 
The sixth-seed in the Central Regional, the Lady Blues (31-4) lost all three times it played Kearney this fall.
 
Washburn had to face some adversity today as starting setter Abby Wittman still wasn't 100% after spraining her ankle in the MIAA Tournament two weeks ago. Also, a bout of sickness went through the Lady Blues and starting libero Courtney Churchman couldn't play and several others weren't operating at full strength.
 
“It's hard enough to beat a great team like Kearney with all your guns fully loaded, let alone when they aren't. There was some sickness on our team and we had to use a makeshift lineup but we did our best and it wasn't quite good enough,” said Washburn head coach Chris Herron.
 
Continuing its fine play of recent weeks, the third-seed Lopers recorded 50 kills and hit a solid .315 while digging up 65 balls and serving up five aces with no errors.
 
"Obviously, we are very pleased that we have the chance to play in the next round,” said UNK head coach Rick Squiers. “I'm glad we played well. I think it's an example of how we've been playing lately. The past two or three weeks of the season we seemed to hit another level so I'm very happy to see our players get to do that at the regional tournament, on this stage and play well.”
 
Stopping a two-match NCAA losing streak, UNK improves to 26-16 all-time in the NCAA's. Click HERE for the complete UNK press conference.
 
The first set was the closest as it featured four ties and three lead changes. Down 16-11, Washburn recorded four straight kills to force Squiers to call timeout.
 
After the break, UNK went on its own 4-0 run that made Washburn use a timeout. The spurt featured three Lopers kill, including one from Sokolowski (Kearney Catholic).  Kearney kept a four-point cushion the rest of the way and a kill by Krolikowski  (Grand Island) closed out the set.
 
The Lopers then exploded in set two, grabbing leads of 11-2 and 17-4 before the Lady Blues made a late push. This time, a Sokolowski kill ended a set in which Washburn had only nine kills. 
 
Finally, UNK used a 5-1 run to break a three all tie in the third set to lead for good. Both Krolikowski and Sokolowski had two kills apiece during this mini-run.
 
Krolikowski had match-highs in kills (18) and attack percentage (.457) while supplying nine digs and two blocks on defense. Sokolowski provided 12 kills, two blocks and a .400 hitting efficiency in the middle with front row mate Ellie Pesavento (Omaha Marian) at eight kills and three stuff.
 
Back on the outside, junior Ashley Leitner (Lincoln SW) had seven kills, seven digs and three aces. Running the show, senior setter Jenna Rouzee (GI Northwest) had 39 assists, 14 digs, three kills, two blocks and an ace.  

Finally, sophomore libero Liz McGowan (GI Central Catholic) had a match-high 15 digs.
 
Washburn was led by Jessica Kopp (14 kills) and Crete native Jessica Fey (11 kills).