Nebraska Wesleyan Defeats Willamette Volleyball

By Sara Elcano, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

FOREST GROVE, ORE. -- Nebraska Wesleyan University improved its record to 4-0 after defeating Willamette University 25-20, 25-9 and 25-11 at the Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational on Sunday, Sept. 5. Willamette's season record moved to 2-2 with the loss. Nebraska Wesleyan hit .301 and tallied 44 kills en route to victory.

Senior Molly Blankenship (OH, Spokane, WA/Spokane Falls CC) had a team-high nine kills for Willamette. She earned a hitting percentage of .208. Emily Compton (So., S, Portola, CA/Boise State Univ.) played a solid game with 20 assists and 14 digs.

Willamette trailed 23-14 before running off six straight points to pull within 23-20 in the first set. Blankenship had four kills during the stretch and Danica Reed (So., OH, Arvada, CO/Arvada HS) provided a serving ace. Nebraska Wesleyan was able to earn the 25-20 victory following two hitting errors by WU.

The second set did not start out well for Willamette, which gave up an 11-point run to fall behind 14-3. Serve receiving proved to be a problem for the Bearcats as NWU registered four aces during the run.

The final set was more of the same for Willamette. The Bearcats could not stop multiple long scoring runs by Nebraska Wesleyan and eventually fell 25-11.

Willamette ended the Boxer Invitational with a 2-1 tournament record. The Bearcats will travel to Warner Pacific University on Sept. 8. The match will take place in Portland, Ore., at 7 p.m. (PDT).

Following the Warner Pacific match, WU will travel to Thousand Oaks, Calif., to participate in the California Lutheran Tournament. Matches in the tournament are scheduled for Sept. 10-11.