The Northern State volleyball squad completed its third sweep in a row in the past six days. The Wolves swept MSU Moorhead last Thursday, swept Minot State on Saturday, and swept Mary 25-22, 25-11, and 25-19 at Wachs Arena Tuesday night.

“When can we practice, and how long can we practice?” said NSU coach Brent Aldridge when asked about the difficulties of competing that much. “You just got to manage bodies at this stage. … So if you could sweep someone and not stay out there as long, it should be better for your legs, I’m hoping.”

The Wolves knew about the demanding schedule, but welcomed the challenge.

“Honestly, I think that’s the most fun, because we still practice and stuff but getting to compete is what we love,” said Northern senior captain Keri Walker. “And two of them were at home. Last year, all of our midweek games were away, so it was nice that two of them were home. It was fun.”

In the first set, the Wolves jumped out to a healthy 23-16 lead looking to close out the set. Mary scored three straight points to cut the lead down to 23-19, which prompted a timeout from Aldridge

“Normally, I’m going to call a timeout before it gets tied, before it gets within one,” said Aldridge. “I thought they responded well and finished that set. Played much better in the second.”

The Wolves never fell behind in the second set and had 14 kills, to Mary’s 7. Abby Brooks received the ball more at the net, getting four kills in the second set, double the amount she had the opening set, which included the final points of that set.

“I think we start setting Abby Brooks a little more. We start setting quick a little more. She hit 538 or something,” said Aldridge. “That’s what we have to do. Not just against UMary, but we’re going to have to be more diversified against St. Cloud and Duluth for sure.”

The number of hitters the Wolves possess is a strong suit. Northern had five players with eight kills or more against the Mauraders.

“It’s so nice to be able to spread the offense. I think it makes it really hard on the other team’s block, too, because they don’t know who we’re going to set and they can’t really trap people,” Walker said. “So, it’s nice being able to set whoever at any time and knowing they’re going to kill it.”

In the final set, the Wolves closed out the match 25-19 on an ace from Mia Hinsz, her second on the night.

Hanna Thompson led the Wolves with 11 kills, followed by Brooks and Natalia Szybinksa with nine apiece, and Victoria Persha and Morissen Samuels each with eight.

The Wolves 14-4 on the season, will face two top 25 opponents later this week. NSU hosts third-rated St. Cloud State at 6 p.m. Friday, and then will face 25th-rated Minnesota-Duluth at 3 p.m. Saturday at Wachs Arena.

“We got two really good teams coming in this weekend,” said Aldridge. “You’re going to see some pretty heavy balls being hit on the other side of the net. … Kenzie Foley (of St. Cloud) is the National Player of the Year, they got a really nice middle that’s going off of one foot and so we’ll have to deal with a little more heat. But if you line up great, let them hit it really hard, it goes down really fast.”

It will be another challenge for the Wolves, but nothing new. They are hoping a home-court advantage at the Barnett Central will be a big plus in their favor.

“I think it’s going to be fun. We get to play a top-five team in the nation, and that’s what we’re here for,” Walker said. “Hopefully we can like pack the BC. It should be a really good game. … Just pack the BC this weekend. It’ll be a really good weekend. Two top 25 matches.”

To see a box score of the Mary match, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2024/umary/boxscore/13668