CRETE, Neb. – The No. 14-ranked Northwestern College volleyball team (15-7, 7-5 GPAC) took down the No. 23-ranked Tigers of Doane University (18-9, 6-7 GPAC) in straight sets to begin their weekend trip in the state of Nebraska Friday evening.
The Raiders had all things clicking, hitting an impressive .326 on the night, compared to the sub-.100 hitting night for Doane. Northwestern had 44 kills as a team, and six service aces.
The first set started with both teams exchanging points in sets of two, maintaining a close set till the end. With the Raiders holding onto a 20-19 lead late in the set, the Raiders closed out the opening set with a 5-0 run thanks to a few attacking errors on the Tigers.
Northwestern kept up the pressure on the home squad in the second set, stealing all the momentum inside the Haddix Recreation and Athletic Center, jumping out to a 16-7 set lead. Doane attempted to claw their way back into it, but Tiger errors and kills from Macay Van’t Hul (So., Rock Valley, Iowa/Western Christian) helped the Raiders take a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was complete and utter dominant performance by the Raiders to close out the match. Up 5-3, the Raiders put together a run for the history books putting together a 20-0 run to steal the set 25-3. Many mistakes culminated into the run for the Raiders, as the Tigers totaled 19 attack errors on the night as the Raiders took advantage. The run was highlighted by three service aces from Olivia Granstra (So., Sheldon, Iowa/Western Christian). Alysen Dexter (Fr., Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) had five kills in the run, and Van’t Hul had three.
Dexter and Bekah Horstman (Sr., Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian) were the only two in double-digits in the kill category on the evening. Dexter had the match-high 12 and Horstman had 10 kills, with Horstman hitting .406 on the match. Katie Peters (Jr., Le Mars, Iowa/Gehlen Catholic) had seven kills with no errors in her fifteen attempts on the night for a phenomenal .467 hitting percentage.
Up Next: Northwestern will take on the Hastings College Broncos Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in Hastings, Neb.
