Lockey's Big Night Helps @UNCBearsVB Earn First Win

Saturday, August 27

Greeley, Colo.

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

0-2

North Dakota State

1-1

North Dakota State

Northern Colorado

8/27/2016 11:58:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

UNC volleyball earned its first win of the season behind the big night of Kortney Lockey

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – In a back and forth match, Northern Colorado (1-1) edged out North Dakota State (0-2) Saturday night inside Bank of Colorado Arena 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 27-29, 25-18, 15-12).

How it Happened
The opening set of the match was an indication of how the night would go with the teams trading points throughout it. In the set, UNC and NDSU were tied 12 times. The Bears held a 19-16 advantage when the visiting Bison went on 9-4 run to come back and take the first frame.

The second set was the beginning of the Kortney Lockey show for UNC. After recording just one kill in the first, Lockey exploded for seven in the second set as Northern Colorado evened up the match at one heading into intermission.

Coming out of the locker rooms the teams were even through the first 22 points of the third set. Northern Colorado took a slight advantage midway through it before NDSU responded with a small run of their own to up by two points at 23-21. The teams ended up playing some extra volleyball in the set before North Dakota State won it 29-27.

The Bears responded well after dropping the close third set, opening the fourth with a 10-4 run. During the run junior middle blocker Natalya King had a pair of serving aces, the first two of her career. Riding the early momentum and arm of Kortney Lockey's 11 kills in the set UNC forced a decisive fifth set.

UNC continued to use the energy from the home crowd and momentum gained during the fourth set to start fast in the fifth. The Bears were up 5-1 after the first six points, and led 8-4 at the switch. NDSU would not give up without a fight though, getting within one of UNC at 13-12. Timarie Nymeyer and Ashley Guthrie close the door on a Bison comeback with back to back kills giving the Bears their first win of the season.

Game Changer
The right arm of Kortney Lockey will be a little sore tomorrow morning. The sophomore outside hitter took 76 swings for UNC Saturday night and set a career-high in kills with 27. She was not just a one trick pony for the team, as she also had a career-high 16 digs. She came up big for the team when she was needed the most, accumulating seven kills in the key second set, and another 11 in the fourth set that helped the Bears earn the comeback victory.

Notables
- After struggling last night offensively, UNC responded Saturday. The Bears hit .216 for the match, and had a season-high .378 attack percentage in the fourth set.
- It was an all-out team effort on the backline Saturday with five Bears recording double digit digs. In the group of five, three recorded career highs, in Makenna Meier (25), Taylor Els (15) and Kayla Uyemura (16).
- Freshman Sarah Wyland rebounded after a tough first career match Friday to record 12 kills and a .250 hitting percentage.
- Ashley Guthrie (61) and Timarie Nymeyer (18) finished just one assist and kills shy of tying career highs, respectively Saturday night.
- After a poor performance from the service line against Saint Mary's, UNC responded on Saturday with seven aces, including a trio of players with two each.

Quotables
Kortney Lockey

On tonight's performance:
"I can say five set matches are really fun. I didn't play my best game, it wasn't pretty but it was gritty. I kept going out there staying aggressive and looking to make a play."

Playing with emotion:
"It's the way I play the game, it's always the way I have played the game. I love volleyball more than anything. So just celebrating those points is just the best thing to me."

Fourth set performance:
"Every time that I get the ball I want to install confidence in my teammates and starts with getting the kills. So when I am up there in my mind I am going, 'I want to get this kill for Ashley, or I will get this ball for Kayla'. Just like whoever is helping on the play I am going to get this point for my teammate."

Timarie Nemeyer

On getting the key late kills:
"It means a lot to me that my setter trusts me. She has the confidence in me to get me the ball and my team as the confidence in me to put the ball away."

Coach Oates:

On Kortney and Timarie's performance:
"Our team really responds to Kortney. I think our team carries her personality both good and bad, and tonight it was good. She is emotional, she is fired up. She struggled early on scoring against this team, but as soon as she found that our team found it. We needed her in the front row as much as possible.

"The key late was Timarie. So her coming up with those 18 kills was key. After last night I really challenged her and Kortney as veterans on this team that we needed more from them. So to see how they came out tonight and responded to that challenge shows their grit and leadership on this team being able to handle that challenge."

Freshman response:
"Taylor Els can do anything for us. In the first few days of practice we saw she will probably be in the starting lineup for us. She has been consistent for us and she doesn't play like a freshman. She plays feisty and confident which is what we need from her. We are going to see her develop. I also really liked what we also got out of freshman Sarah Wyland tonight. In only her second career match on the left side she really came along and you could see her confidence building as the match went on."

Importance of win:
"It was an important win emotionally. To go back to back emotional matches and not get the result that you want, which is a win, is tough to overcome. To have a split going into Tuesday is better."

Looking ahead to Colorado State:
"They provide a different match up for use than these first two matches have. With CSU you know they will be bringing size up front, so you have to attack them differently than tonight where we were attacking the block. You have to go around them and exploit the back row defense, not the front row. We also have to serve tough and get them out of system. There are definitely areas to get points, but different than the way we did tonight."

What's Next?
The victory Saturday night helps Northern Colorado build momentum as they prepare to host No. 25 Colorado State on Tuesday night. The two teams have faced the same opponents so far this season with CSU going 2-0 and UNC 1-1. First serve for the rivalry match is set for 7 pm.

With Colorado State in town it is up to the fans to help #DefendTheDen. Make sure to come out and support the team when they host the Rams on Tuesday and wear your blue and gold to the match.