Jamestown (UJ) The University of Jamestown women’s volleyball team moved one step closer to capturing the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season championship, defeating Morningside (Iowa) College 3-0 Friday night at Harold Newman Arena. Set scores were 25-19, 25-21, and 25-16.
The winner of Saturday’s matchup between Northwestern (Iowa) and Jamestown takes the GPAC title. The Jimmies will enter Saturday’s tilt at 14-1 in conference play while the Red Raiders are 13-2.
Despite hitting just .219 for the the match, including .000 in the second set on 39 attempts, the Jimmies used a strong defensive presence at the net, finishing with nine total blocks and forcing the Mustangs into 22 attack errors of their own.
UJ and Morningside played a see-saw first set, with neither team leading by more than two, until Jamestown went ahead 18-15. After the Mustangs cut the lead to 18-16, the Jimmies won seven of the final ten points in a 25-19 win.
In set two the Jimmies used a 6-0 run midway through to create some separation. UJ would lead by as many as seven before settling for a 25-21 win.
Momentum stayed with Jamestown in the third set as the home team raced out to a 6-1 lead, not letting Morningside get within three points the rest of the way. Runs of 6-2 and and 8-4 eventually gave UJ a nine-point cushion and the Jimmies won 25-16.
Anna Holen (JR/LaMoure, N.D.) and Kalli Hegerle (JR/West Fargo, N.D.) paced the offense with eight kills each. Nicole Schmitz (FR/Oakes, N.D.) added seven kills and Jayla Ritter (JR/Forest Lake, Minn.) and Corina Huff (SR/Breezy Point, Minn.) both had six.
Jackie Meiklejohn (JR/Dickey, N.D.) posted a double-double of 25 assists and 14 digs, while Megan Gaffaney (JR/Jamestown, N.D.) finished with 12 assists.
Sydney Ellingson (SR/Langdon, N.D.) turned up 17 digs and Hannah Schiele (JR/Jamestown, N.D.) 15 as UJ outdug Morningside 59-45.
Huff had six block assists followed by Hegerle with five and Ritter three.
