Volleyball

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team won an epic five-set Midwest Conference match over Illinois College on Friday night by a 3-2 score at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence defeated the Lady Blues 26-24, 15-25, 25-19, 18-25, 17-15.

Arianna Neumeyer led a balanced Lawrence attack with 14 kills, and Cyra Bammer and Megan Conley added 11 kills apiece. Arianna Cohen and Rachael Wuench picked up nine kills apiece for the Vikings (7-16, 6-2 MWC), who have won five straight.

Neumeyer also had a match-best 29 digs, and Katie Kumbalek picked up 28. Sydney Nelson led the Vikings with 28 assists, and Lauren Ray added 24.

Lisa Lowry led Illinois College (4-13, 2-5) with 18 kills, and she added 18 digs. Courtney Louveau handed out 46 assists.

Box score

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Lawrence University volleyball team hit .253 and piled up eight aces on its way to a 3-0 Midwest Conference sweep of Monmouth College on Saturday.

Lawrence won by the scores of 25-18, 25-23, 25-15. The Vikings (6-16, 5-2 MWC) have now won four straight.

Arianna Neumeyer paced the Vikings with 10 kills and 15 digs. Rachael Wuensch added seven kills without an error in 13 attacks.

Lauren Ray and Sydney Nelson combined for 27 assists, as Ray picked up 16 and Nelson added 11.

The Vikings combined for seven total blocks, with Megan Conley with four block assists and Arianna Cohen adding three.

Results

GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University volleyball team topped Knox College 3-2 in a Midwest Conference match on Friday night to hand the Prairie Fire its first league loss.

Lawrence won the match 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-12.

After the teams split the first four sets, Lawrence (5-16, 4-2 MWC) had just one hitting error in the final set and hit .235 for the set. Knox (9-12, 4-1) had six attack errors in the final set.

Lawrence’s balanced attack was paced by rookie Arianna Neumeyer, who picked up 16 kills. Arianna Cohen and Megan Conley had nine kills apiece, and Liz Arco, Cyra Bammer and Rachael Wuensch added six kills apiece.

Setters Lauren Ray and Sydney Nelson combined for 43 assists. Ray had 27 and Nelson added 16.

Kyleigh Guthals led Knox with 15 kills, and Casey Stachelski had 44 assists.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University volleyball standout Katie Kumbalek has been named the Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

Kumbalek (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek), a freshman defensive specialist, led the defensive effort for Lawrence as the Vikings swept a pair of Midwest Conference road matches this past weekend.

In a 3-1 win at Lake Forest College last Friday, Kumbalek picked up 21 digs, her fourth 20-plus dig match of the season, as Lawrence limited Lake Forest to a .109 hitting percentage.

In a 3-0 win at Beloit College on Saturday, Kumbalek had 16 digs as Beloit hit a minus-.028 for the match.

On the weekend, Kumbalek averaged 5.29 digs per set.

It was Lawrence’s first MWC Player of the Week honor since Arianna Cohen took the offensive award on Oct. 7, 2014.

With the wins, Lawrence improved to 3-2 in Midwest Conference play. The Vikings return to action on Friday at Knox College and then travel to Monmouth College on Saturday.

BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 Midwest Conference sweep of Beloit College on Saturday at Flood Arena.

Lawrence won the match 25-15, 25-16, 25-16.

Arianna Neumeyer paced Lawrence’s attack with 12 kills, and Arianna Cohen and Sydney Nelson had five kills apiece. Nelson also picked up a match-high 22 assists and added a pair of aces and 11 digs. Lawrence libero Katie Kumbalek paced the Vikings (4-16, 3-2 MWC) with 16 digs.

The Vikings hit .228 as a team, compared to a minus-.028 for the Bucs (3-13, 0-4).

Lawrence has now won three of its last four matches.

Box score

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Lawrence University volleyball team used a balanced attack to down Lake Forest College 3-1 in a Midwest Conference match Friday at the Sports and Recreation Center.

Lawrence (3-16, 2-2 MWC) defeated the Foresters (4-13, 1-2) 25-20, 25-16 17-25, 25-17.

Elizabeth Arco paced Lawrence with nine kills and had a tidy .316 hitting percentage for the match. Arianna Neumeyer added eight kills, Rachael Wuench had six kills and Arianna Cohen picked up five for the Vikings.

Sydney Nelson led Lawrence with 24 assists and had 11 digs and three aces. Katie Kumbalek posted 21 digs, and Neumeyer added 14.

Bailey Everhart and Brittany Avonts led Lake Forest with 11 kills apiece.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — The Cornell College volleyball team topped Lawrence University 3-0 in a Midwest Conference match on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.

The Rams (4-10, 1-1 MWC) won 25-15, 25-15, 25-15.

Libby Schnoor paced Cornell with 10 kills, and Mariah Brandly added nine.

Cyra Bammer had seven kills to lead Lawrence (2-16, 1-2), and Arianna Neumeyer picked up 10 digs.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team got a balanced attack and rolled to a 3-1 Midwest Conference victory over Grinnell College on Friday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence defeated the Pioneers 25-15, 25-21, 20-25, 25-18.

Arianna Neumeyer paced the Vikings (2-15, 1-1 MWC) with 15 kills, and she had 15 digs and a match-high five aces.

Elizabeth Arco was unstoppable for Lawrence as she piled up 13 kills on just 16 attacks for a cool .812 hitting percentage. The .812 hitting percentage ranks second in school history, behind only Lis Pollock’s .871 against Edgewood College in 2002.

Megan Conley returned to the Lawrence lineup and picked up 10 kills.

Lauren Ray piled up 27 assists, and Sydney Nelson had 20 for the Vikings. Katie Kumbalek led the Vikings with 24 digs.

Olivia Fromm led Grinnell (0-10, 0-10) with sevn kills, and Margaret Giles handed out 24 assists.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — The Carroll University volleyball team won the final three sets on Wednesday to post a 3-1 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at Alexander Gymnasium.

The Pioneers (4-10, 1-0 MWC) won 16-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-22.

Amanda Hahn had 16 kills, and Kelly Sloyan added 13 for Carroll. Taylor Kuehl piled up 41 assists, and Kate Pringle had 25 digs for the Pioneers.

Arianna Neumeyer led Lawrence (11-15, 0-1) with 14 kills and 20 digs. Sydney Nelson had 18 assists and Lauren Ray added 16 for the Vikings.

Box score

MADISON, Wis. — The Edgewood College volleyball team swept Lawrence University 3-0 in a nonconference match on Saturday at the Edgewood Triangular.

The Eagles won 25-15, 25-16, 25-16.

Arianna Neumeyer and Arianna Cohen led Lawrence with four kills apiece. Sydney Nelson led the Vikings with 11 assists and Lauren Ray picked up 10 digs.

Box score