LA CROSSE, Wis. – The No. 9-ranked Northwestern College volleyball team (9-4, 1-2 GPAC) split the day in La Crosse, Wis. falling to No. 3-ranked Viterbo (19-1, 1-0 NSAA) 3-1 before ending the afternoon with a straight sets victory over Lincoln Christian (1-9) to wrap up the non-conference slate of the 2021 season.
(3) Viterbo 3, (9) Northwestern 1
In a top-10 matchup from La Crosse, Wis., it was the V-Hawks who would prevail taking the match 3-1. The first set was hard fought but it was Viterbo who took it by the score of 25-17.
The second set was more of the same, but the Raiders clawed back from being down 7-2 early to take a 10-9 lead thanks to an 8-2 spurt. After a Viterbo timeout, it was the V-Hawks who went on a 5-0 run to take the 14-10 lead and this time would not give it back, taking the second set 25-18.
The third set was an absolute thriller as the Raiders would not go down without a fight. The set saw a lot of back and forth action. Just when it looked like the V-Hawks were on the brink to take the match in three sets thanks to a 6-0 run, the Raiders would respond with an 8-1 spurt of their own to take an 18-16 lead. Ultimately, the set would go in favor of the Raiders 30-28 thanks to a Macay Van’t Hul (So., Rock Valley, Iowa/Western Christian) kill and an attacking error from Viterbo.
Set four would see Viterbo take all the momentum and they would take the set – and match – with a 25-15 set final.
(9) Northwestern 3, Lincoln Christian 0
In the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Christian and Northwestern, it was all Raiders as they would take the match in straight sets. The first set the tone of the match with the Raiders taking it 25-16.
In the second set, the Raiders had a hitting percentage of .500, as they rolled to a 25-11 set victory to take total control of the match.
The third set saw some fight from the Lincoln Christian squad but Northwestern prevailed 25-18 to take the match in straight sets.
Alysen Dexter (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) notched 19 kills on the match, marking a new season- and career-high with her previous record being 18 kills to open GPAC play on September 1.
Bekah Horstman (Sr., Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian) and Katie Peters (Jr., Le Mars, Iowa/Gehlen Catholic) tallied nine total blocks between the two of them in the Raider victory.
Up Next: The Raiders pick back up with Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) on Tuesday, September 21 when they hit the road for Jamestown, N.D. to complete the season series with No. 2-ranked Jamestown with a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
