Kearney, Neb. – The still fourth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team closes out its regular season home schedule this weekend with matches against Southwest Baptist and Missouri Southern State.
First serve is at 7:00 p.m. Not the MSSU match had an original start time of 6:00 p.m. Check the
Loper schedule page for live stat and video streaming links.
UNK (26-1, 11-1) is in sole possession of first place in the MIAA and have already secured a spot in the eight-team MIAA Tournament. That event beings on Tuesday, November 15th, when the top four seeds host seeds five through eight. The highest remaining seed after the first round hosts the semifinals and finals on November 18-19 (Friday & Saturday).
SBU (3-22, 0-11) and MSSU (4-20, 1-10) will both need to rally in order to make the postseason. The Bearcats have dropped 16 in a row while the Mo Southern Lions, heading into a Friday match at Fort Hays State, have lost six straight.
The Lopers enter the weekend with a 12-0 home record after winning all 18 matches in the Health & Sports Center last season. UNK hasn't had back-to-back perfect home marks since 2003 (17-0) and 2004 (23-0).
Having won six in a row, Kearney has two of Division II's most efficient hitters in senior right side
Annie Wolfe (.409) and junior middle
Tara Ziegelbein (.418). The school record for attack percentage in a season is .417, set by Erin Gudmundson in 2004.
Ziegelbein (Lincoln Lutheran H.S.) currently ranks second in D2, trailing only senior middle Riley Hanson of Concordia-St. Paul (.433). Wolfe (Omaha Marian H.S.) is fourth with another Central Region player, SW Minnesota's Eisha Oden (.417), third.
Helping these Lopers hit so efficiently is South Dakota sophomore setter
Lindsey Smith. She currently is seventh in D2 in assists per set (11.81), an average that is tops in the MIAA and ranks fifth in the tough Central Region.
As a team, the Lopers rank in D'2 top eight in opponent hitting percentage (2nd/.086), hitting percentage (3rd/.308), kills per set (4th/14.53), assists per set (5th/13.76) and blocks per set (8th/2.38).
After this weekend, UNK closes out the regular season with road matches at Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri, SBU and MSSU.
