APPLETON, Wisconsin — Sam Thrasher of the Ripon College volleyball program collected her 1000th dig as the Red Hawks beat rival Lawrence 3-0 on Friday night at Alexander Gymnasium by set scores of 25-9, 26-24 and 25-16.
 
Playing in her 86th and penultimate match in a Ripon uniform, the senior from Mauston put up a trademark performance, tallying 14 digs to help Ripon (10-18, 3-5 MWC) take down Lawrence (5-22, 2-6 MWC) in its final Midwest Conference match of the season.
 
After Lawrence earned the first point of the match, Ripon answered in a convincing way by scoring the next 10 points as the Vikings used both of their first-set timeouts in the 11-point span. The Red Hawks rode the hot hand of Ellie Ove, who had more kills than the entire Lawrence lineup in the first set (5-3). The first set was never in doubt as Ripon scored eight of the final 10 points to win the set by 16 – its largest set margin of victory this season.
 
Lawrence punched back in set two, going on a 4-0 run in the early portions of the frame to take an 8-6 lead. Ripon would counter with a 3-0 run to regain a 10-9 lead, but the Vikings went on a 5-0 spurt moments later to hold a 16-11 advantage. Continuing the set of runs, Ripon bounced back with five points in a row of its own to pull even at 16 apiece. In the homestretch of the second set, Lawrence fended off a pair of Ripon set points to tie it at 24 before an Emily Braun kill and an LU attack error gave set two to the Red Hawks.
 
Lawrence scored the first two points of the third set, but Ripon countered with a 7-0 run – highlighted by two consecutive Sam Differt aces – prompting the first Viking timeout of the frame. The Red Hawks kept a steady lead throughout the set as Lawrence never pulled closer than four the rest of the night, helping Ripon claim its second MWC sweep of the season.
 
Ove carried the lion's share of the offense on Friday, tallying a match-high 11 kills. Lydia Ellis wasn't far behind, notching 9. Braun was the primary setter and had an effective 23 assists for her 17th, 20+ assist match of the season.
 
As a team, Ripon showed up defensively in holding Lawrence to just 23 kills on 110 attacks (.055). In addition to Thrasher, two other Red Hawks had double-digit dig efforts: Differt (14) and Braun (10).
 
Ripon had a 10-2 edge in service aces and had nearly twice as many kills as Lawrence (42-23).
 
Ripon wraps up its season on Saturday (November 4) with a 12 p.m. match against Loras. Saturday's match will also serve as Senior Day for the Red Hawks.
 
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