No. 9 Northwestern plays host to #14 Hastings in the semifinals of the 2018 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday night, Nov. 7. First serve at the Bultman Center is scheduled for 7 pm.
Northwestern, the No.2 seed in the 8-team tournament bracket, is 23-6 coming into Wednesday night’s semifinal. Hastings, the No.3 seed, is 19-5.
Since its four-set loss to the Red Raiders in September, Hastings has rattled off nine straight wins, including wins over ranked teams, Jamestown and Midland. They earned a 3-0 sweep over Morningside in Saturday’s quarterfinal. The Broncos finished tied with both Northwestern and Midland for second in the GPAC regular season with a 13-3 record and earned the No.3 seed by way of tie break procedures. They are 19-5 overall.
Coach Buttermore, in his seventh season at Hastings, has earned GPAC Coach of the Year honors the last two years. He guided the Broncos to the NAIA National Championship in 2016 and to both the GPAC regular and postseason title in 2017. He returns four starters and 10 players from last year’s team that went 14-2 in the GPAC, 28-3 overall.
The Red Raiders swept Doane in the GPAC Quarterfinals last weekend to improve to 23-6 on the season. They have won two straight matches heading into Wednesday night, downing a ranked Jamestown squad in the regular season finale. Northwestern finished tied with the Broncos and Midland for second in the GPAC, going 13-3 in conference play. They are playing in their second consecutive GPAC semifinal, losing to Dordt last season.
