No.8 Northwestern College dominated from start to finish in its sweep over #9 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in the final pool H match played Thursday at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship at the Tyson Events Center.
The Red Raiders, with a 2-1 record, are the champions of pool H and will play #7 Viterbo (Wis.) in the round of 16 at 9am on Friday morning, Nov. 30. Northwestern improves to 26-8 on the year.
Needing a win to ensure a spot in the round of 16, the Red Raiders played one its best matches to date, hitting 33% with 52 kills and just 15 errors in 113 attempts. Van Den Bosch’s squad also had the edge in aces (6-0) and was nearly flawless in the backrow as well.
Emily Van Ginkel and Makenzie Fink both put down a match-hight 14 kills with Fink hitting an impressive .632 at the pins. Both Lauryn Hilger and Bekah Horstman were also in double figures, pounding down 13 and 10 kills and hitting over .300, respectively. Lacey Wacker directed the Red Raider offense with precision, lofting up 45 assists, and Emily Strasser led the backrow play with 13 digs.
An ace by Fink followed by a kill from Van Ginkel broke a 3-3 tie and put the Red Raiders up for good in the first set. Leading by one (7-6), Van Den Bosch’s squad scored the next four points and built up a five-point lead, finished off with an ace from Sydney Martin. Northwestern continued to pour it on, pushing its lead to as many 10 (19-9) and had the luxury of trading points the rest of the way to earn the first set win.
Tied at seven early in the second, Northwestern scored seven consecutive points, served by Wacker, to take control. Overall, the Red Raiders closed with an 18-7 run and hit .500 compared to 19% by the Battlin’ Bears for a 2-0 sets lead.
The closest set by far, Northwestern led by just one (14-13) before scoring 11 of the final 15 points to win the final set. Van Ginkel scored four straight points for the Red Raiders at the net, forcing Rocky Mountain into its final timeout. Both Horstman and Fink put down two kills each during the final points, with the match-winner coming from a successful attack by Horstman.
