ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Northwestern College volleyball team is ranked No. 10 in the NAIA entering the 2021 when the season commences at the Charger Invite in Sioux City, Iowa on August 27 and 28.
The Raiders are led by 17th year head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch who enters the season needing just one victory to make history at Northwestern, coming into the year with 451 career wins leading the volleyball program. The team’s first win this season will make Van Den Bosch the winningest coach in Northwestern volleyball history. He’s currently tied with his predecessor Mike Meyer who led the program for 16 seasons (1989-2004).
The season is set to begin a week from Friday on August 27 and 28 at the Charger Invite in Sioux City, Iowa. Based on the preseason NAIA Coaches’ rankings, eight opponents on this year’s schedule enter this season either ranked or receiving votes.
Due to the Bultman Center renovation, the first home match is set for Friday, September 10 when Northwestern welcomes No. 2-ranked and preseason GPAC coaches’ favorite Jamestown to Orange City.
All five First- and Second-Team All-Conference performers from 2020 do not return this season, leaving big shoes for the Raiders to fill on the court this season. Honorable mention performers Emily Strasser (Sr., DS, Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) and Macay Van’t Hul (So., MH, Rock Valley, Iowa/Western Christian) return to guide the young inexperienced Raider bunch.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is loaded coming into the 2021 season as seven teams are either ranked inside the top-25 or receiving votes, including five teams ranked top-10 or higher. The Jamestown Jimmies, this year’s coaches’ preseason favorite to repeat their conference title, leads the way ranked No. 2 nationally. Midland and Dordt follow closely, ranked No. 3 and No. 5, respectively. Concordia (Neb.) checks in at No. 7 with Northwestern rounding out the top-10 at No. 10.
GPAC play is set to commence on Wednesday, September 1 when the Raiders travel to Sioux City to take on the Mustangs of Morningside College.
The 2021 GPAC Tournament is scheduled for November 6th, 20th, and 30th with the higher seed hosting each round as Northwestern looks to make another run in this year’s conference tournament.
Since taking over the program from Coach Meyer in 2005, Van Den Bosch has tied Meyer with seven conference titles both in sixteen seasons leading the Raiders. He boasts an impressive 451-125 overall record, winning nearly 80% of his matches leading Northwestern. Prior to taking over the reigns of the Northwestern volleyball team, he was an assistant coach at MOC-Floyd Valley here in Orange City, Iowa.
In his 16 seasons at the helm, the Raiders have made 11 trips to the NAIA National Championship – Final Site (2006-10, 2013-14, 2017-2020), five quarterfinal appearances (2007-09, 2019-20). On top of the seven regular season titles, Van Den Bosch has led the squad to three GPAC postseason titles (2009-10, 2014).
He has coached an impressive 31 All-American athletes and one NAIA Player of the Year in Anna Wedel (2019). Ten volleyball athletes have garnered GPAC Player of the Year honors. Not only do Van Den Bosch’s teams compete nationally on the court, they also work hard in the classroom including 59 scholar athletes and/or Scholar All-Americans, 12-time NAIA Scholar Team (2008-2020), and earning the AVCA Team Academic Roll in 2014 and 2015.
