SUPERIOR, Wis. – The 19th-ranked Northwestern Eagles stayed perfect in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference with a 3-0 sweep of the UW-Superior volleyball team at Mertz Mortorelli Gym Thursday.
 
The Eagles hit .315 as a team with 47 kills and just 13 errors in 108 total attacks to improve to 20-2 overall and 6-0 in the UMAC with the victory. UNW won by set scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-13. Gabby Straub led all players with 16 kills and Kendra Hardy added 12 while hitting .400 to pace the Eagles.
 
The Yellowjackets hit a collective .071 (28-19-126) and were led by Alexie Pryd (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove Senior) and Maddy Cabe (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) with nine and eight kills, respectively. Cassy Teff (Foley, Minn./Foley) recorded a team-best 10 of Superior's 41 total digs.
 
UNW jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set on a block by Kiera Brown and Straub, pushing the advantage to 15-8 on a Hardy kill from Sydney Schwitters that closed a four-point Eagles run. UWS won the next two points with a Pryd kill and UNW error to pull within 15-10, but after the teams traded the following two points, the Eagles took 5-of-6, extending the lead to 21-12.
 
A kill by Cabe and bad set by Kalley Schwitters made it a 21-14 before UNW closed the set with four of the final five points, including three consecutive.
 
The second set saw Northwestern lead 9-3 prior to a 'Jackets' rally to a 14-10 deficit. Pryd and Teff each came up with two kills in the stretch. The Eagles were up 18-11 when UWS used a Cabe kill and two Northwestern errors to make it 18-14. The visitors took control from there, ending the set with kills by Hardy and Straub.
 
A Cabe kill assisted by Megan Holz (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) put Superior down 9-7 in the third set. Kills from Cabe and Teff then made it 12-10 before the Eagles embarked on an 8-0 run for a 20-10 lead, cruising the rest of the way for the victory.
 
Holz finished with 25 assists and eight digs.
 
UWS fell to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the league. 
 
Superior returns to the court Saturday at 3 p.m., when it hosts North Central.