Volleyball | 10/26/2017 4:48:00 PM

Kearney, Neb. – A two-match road swing for the seventh-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team finds the Lopers at Washburn Friday night and Emporia State on Saturday.

Note the Washburn match has been pushed back to a 7 p.m. start; the tilt against Emporia will begin at 8 p.m. Check the Loper schedule page for media links.

UNK (24-2, 11-1) is in sole possession of first place in the MIAA standings, a full game ahead of Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma. While the Lopers "control its own destiny", there are plenty of potential pitfalls over final six MIAA matches.

A young Washburn squad (15-9, 6-6) has beaten UNK at home each of the past two years. Since joining the MIAA, UNK is 2-3 in venerable Lee Arena with two of the matches lasting five sets. Friday's match will be "Senior Night" for the Ichabods.  

Currently 8-3 at home and 1-4 on the road, WU is led by sophomore outside Erica Montgomery (2.89 kills and 1.43 digs per set), freshman outside Genna Berg (2.77 kills and 1.19 digs per set) and Omaha junior middle Mikayla Maxwell (2.24 kills and 1.15 blocks per set).

Back in September, UNK beat the 'Bods in four sets (23-25, -17, -13, -11) with Montgomery having 11 kills and 10 digs.

Emporia (13-12, 5-7) has lost three in a row heading into a Friday match with Fort Hays State. The Hornets are 4-3 at home and on the road this year while also being 6-5 at neutral sites.

This E-State squad doesn't have a senior but does list nine freshmen and three sophomores. Chinese newcomer Yuchen Du (5.35 assists, 3.22 kills, 2.21 digs and 0.62 blocks per set) is an MIAA Freshman of the Year candidate with junior middle Tatum Graves (2.52 kills per set) the next leading attacker.

In September, UNK worked hard to sweep the Hornets (-24, -15-, -20). Du tallied 15 assists, six kills, four digs and a block.

Kearney is 10-2 away from the Health & Sports Center this year and 18-2 in true road matches since the start of 2016. To continue that trend, the offense hopes to keep an efficient streak alive.

The Lopers hit .337 to win at Missouri Southern State last Saturday morning and then hit .272 Tuesday night to beat Hays. Having 48 kills in both wins, UNK hit a combined .193 from October 7-20. For the season, the Lopers are now at a .224 efficiency, third highest in the MIAA. UCO (.259) and UCM (.242) are first and second, respectively.

In the serve game, UNK is now plus 102 for the season. Five players have 10 or more aces, led by junior defensive specialist Morgan Stute (Kearney Catholic) and junior setter Lindsey Smith (Dakokta Dunes S.D.) with 23 apiece.

Next weekend, Kearney hosts Pittsburg State, UCO and NAIA foe Johnson & Wales from Denver.