The now sixth-ranked Nebraska Kearney volleyball team got 13 kills from sophomore outside Carly Purdy and 19 players took to the court in a sweep of Peru State (25-10, 25-13, 25-18) Tuesday night at the Health & Sports Center.
This was the home opener for the Lopers who host the annual Rosella Meier Fall Classic this weekend. The opponents will be Chadron State, Missouri Southern, Mary (N.D.) and Oklahoma Christian.
“I was more concerned about how some of our young kids would play. Some of them haven’t played yet. We had not been able to get (freshman DS) Rhyan Mock on the court yet. She played well and that’s good to see because I think we’ll need her to be able to contribute,” said Loper head coach Rick Squiers. “We also need Carly to continue to play .. she’s doing some nice things.”
UNK was hitting over .400 heading into the third set and got kills from 11 different players. Purdy (North Platte) had the hottest hand, reaching her match-high total in 23 swings (.478 pct.). Next, junior outside Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) had eight kills and hit .333 with senior outside Asha Reiger (Newton, Kan.) at five kills in just eight attempts (.625 pct.).
“We certainly had some sloppy stretches and that’s not what we were looking for. Some of our young kids looked like they were so that’s why you play a match or two like this. Get that out of their system before we need them in a MIAA match,” said Squiers. “It calms the nerves that, when we need to, we can set a ball outside and we have options that can get us a kill.”
Defensively, fourteen different Lopers dug a ball with five having a block. From the service line, redshirt sophomore DS Lexi Stephens (Ankeny, Ia.) had three of UNK’s nine aces. She’s now up to 13 aces in 14 sets played to date.
“Very happy for Lexi. She has gone from playing a lot her freshman year (2022) to taking a redshirt because it didn’t look like she was going to be in the rotation. And, quite honestly, it didn’t look like she was going to be in the rotation this year until maybe two days before we left last week,” said Squiers. “She practiced her way in there, got a shot and took advantage of it playing well and serving tough.”
Peru State was paced by Raevyn Russell (six kills, four digs, one block). They also emptied the bench, sending 16 different players to the court.
