Nebraska Wesleyan stood toe-to-toe with No. 22 Midland all night long but the Warriors came had just enough in the fifth set to hold on for a 3-2 victory over the Prairie Wolves in GPAC volleyball action on Thursday night (Nov. 1) at Snyder Arena in Lincoln. Midland won in scores of 25-16, 24-26, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12.

Midland (20-9, 11-4) easily defeated the Prairie Wolves the first time they met and set one looked similar to the first match. NWU had a -.071 hitting percentage with nine attack errors while Midland had 14 kills to cruise in set one.

Set two was back and forth until Midland had two set points leading 24-22. A Karny Kuehl kill and attack error by the Warriors tied the match at 24-24. Another Warrior error gave NWU the set point and they ended up winning the set with a third consecutive Midland error to even the match 1-1.

Set three was also very close as the set was tied 22-22. Midland then got a kill by Heather Pribyl and two straight NWU errors gave the Warriors a 25-22 win.

With their backs against the wall in the fourth set, NWU jumnped out to a 11-6 lead. Midland rallied to score five straight to tie it at 11-11. NWU again regained the lead 23-18 and would not trail again. An error by Midland gave the Prairie Wolves the 25-22 victory sending the match to a deciding fifth set.

Midland jumped ahead 8-4 in the fifth set and NWU got no closer than two points as the Warriors spoiled the Prairie Wolves upset bid.

Nebraska Wesleyan will close out their 2012 season on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 3) with a 5 pm match against Dordt.