Midway University

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Midway struggled to close out sets in both matches as they drop both contests against Lawrence Tech and Rochester Christian on Saturday at the Onset Invitational.
 

GAME ONE: MIDWAY 1 - 3 LAWRENCE TECH

It was a back and forth affair for the first set as neither team could break free. Midway would rally for four points two different times which made the difference in the first set. The Blue Devils cut their deficit to just one making it 8-9. The Eagles would quickly make it 13-8 courtest of attacking errors, an ace from Mayme Powell and a block form Morgan Broderick and Emma Figgins. Lawrence Tech refused to go away. They would get the deficit down to three when the score was 17-14 in favor of Midway. Thats when the Eagles struck. scoring seven of eight straight points and had set point at 24-15. The Blue Devils would take the next three points but a Figgins kill ended the set as the Eagles win their first set of 2026 by a score of 25-18.
 
The second set was all Blue Devils. Midway scored the first point of a service error. Following that, Kyndal James recorded a kill followed by three straight aces for Maria Trevino and a midway attack error quickly made it 5-1. The Eagles fought back, Mayson Delong started the rally with a kill, Lanie Cornelius and Allie McClanahan got a block and a kill by Nyla Gaines all were the key pieces to cutting the deficit down to just one, as the Blue Devils led 6-7. Lawrence Tech would put a few more rallies together to take the second set 25-15.

Sets three and four were a like for the Eagles as they couldn't get out of the holes that they dug. Lawrence Tech would have four different rallies of 3+ points and the Eagles could never overcome it.

Alyssa Medeiros led the Eagles in the attacking side of the game with five kills. Powell continued her high assist numbers with 12 and defensivley Marlee Laycock recorded a team high 19 digs. 

For the Blue Devils, Trevino led them offensviely with nine kills. Dru Temple recorded 19 digs and Emily Hagelthorn led the defense with 21 digs. Lawrence Tech improves to 2-1 on the season and at the Onset Invitational.

GAME TWO: MIDWAY 1 - 3 ROCHESTER CHRISTIAN

The final match of the weekend was an exciting one from the start. The game was delayed almost two hours so both teams were eager to get going. 

Rochester Christian started out the contest scoring five of the first six points to get the game started. Midway would keep clawing back as they eventually would even the set up at one courtesy of a kill from Delong. Each squad would go back and forth as the set would be tied at 15. Midway would gain their first lead thanks to a Nyla Gaines kill and they would extend that lead to 18-15. RCU would not be stopped though as they would come back to win the set 25-20.

Set two saw alot of back and forth action. Midway would take a 3-1 set lead and hold that lead until it was 19-19 but would score six straight points to earn the second set victory courest of back to back aces from Powell to end the set. 

The biggest difference in the match was the third set. Just like set two , the Eagles would lead the entire set until it was 21-21. From that point, both teams traded blows. Midway has two chances to end it but kills from Kendal Zieter would tie it back up and RCU would win the set 27-25. 

The fourth set however was all Rochester Christian. The came out looking to avoid the fifth set and they did just that. Midway scored the first point courtesy of an attacking error, but that was all the momentum they would see in the final set. After it was 2-2, it was quickly a RCU 20-10 lead and Midway never could overcome the early deficit as Rochester Christian would finish the set 25-15.

Delong recorded 12 kills in the second match to lead the Eagles. Peyton Osteen finished with 20 assists while Blair Riney led the defense with 17 digs. 

Zeiter finished the contest with 10 kills for Rochester Christian. Mallory Johnson recorded 21 assists and Anna Bourbeau recorded 16 digs in the win.

Rochester Christian improves to 1-7 on the season. 

With the losses, the Eagles fall to 0-4 on the campaign. 
 

UP NEXT:

Midway will return home and host Georgetown (Ky.) on Tuesday night in their home opener. The match is scheduled for 7:00 inside the Marshall Gymnasium.