BELLEVUE, Neb. – Lady Argo volleyball finally got back on track in the second set of its match against Culver-Stockton University, waking up from a three game losing streak to win 3-1 (14-25, 25-13, 25-12, 25-12). Earlier in the day, UGF lost its third straight game to #5 Hastings College 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-12).
The Hastings match did little to rebuild UGF's confidence after two tough losses in Day 1 of the Premier Labor Day Classic. The Lady Argos finished with a hitting percentage of just 0.051 and a total of 32 errors.
UGF's best player against the Broncos was senior
Madison Wilhelm, who led the team with 10 points, 9 kills and 13 digs along with 2 block assists. The best team statistic for the Lady Argos was its 10 total blocks but perhaps most significantly for the future was the play of sophomore
Korie Milan.
Milan, who has struggled with consistency, had 5 kills and a hitting percentage of 0.133. While those numbers weren't overly impressive, they foreshadowed better things to come.
To start its match against Culver-Stockton, UGF still looked out of sorts. They dropped the first set 25-14, manufacturing just 7 kills in 24 attempts. Then, in the second set, something clicked. The Lady Argos hitting percentage jumped from 0.125 in the set 1, to 0.556 in set 2 and by set 3 the team's defense limited CSU's hitting percentage to under 0.100.
In those final 3 sets, UGF's offense became much more diverse, finding more options besides Wilhelm to keep the opposing defense on its heels. The top option was senior middle blocker
Tiffany Marks, who was one of the few Lady Argos to play well the previous day. Marks led the team in points (16), kills (13), and block assists (6).
Milan was the next best option, stepping up to play her best game of the season with some nearly flawless hitting. Her 10 kills and 10.5 points were second on the team and she only committed 1 error in 21 attempts.
While Wilhelm wasn't the primary offensive threat in the match, she still made her impact felt with 9 kills and a team leading 13 digs. Junior right side hitter
Mariah Diaz and senior middle blocker
Josee Pendleton also had strong games, combining for 13 kills, 1 error, and 4 block assists.
UGF leaves Nebraska with a 5-7 record. The team has one more non-conference match before beginning Frontier Conference play. That match will be the team's home opener against University of Jamestown on September 11 at 7 p.m.
