ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The No. 21-ranked Northwestern College volleyball team (18-10, 9-7 GPAC) is set to compete in Sioux City at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship for the fifth-straight season as pool play gets under way on Tuesday, November 30 at the Tyson Events Center.
Northwestern will compete against the No. 5-ranked College of Saint Mary Flames (26-5, 13-3 GPAC) and the No. 12-ranked Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (26-7, 19-3 CCC) in this year’s pool play. Pool F is the only pool to feature two Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) institutions in the eight available pools. All seven of the GPAC teams that qualified for the Opening Round have advanced to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa.
Northwestern Red Raiders
The Raiders enter the national tournament in arguably the toughest conference in the nation at the NAIA level. Finishing with a 9-7 mark in league play and earning the No. 5-seed in the GPAC tournament under 17th year head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch, the Raiders earned the right to host an Opening Round contest for the second consecutive season.
Northwestern has been led all season by GPAC Freshman of the Year Alysen Dexter (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) who leads the team with 378 kills on the season, averaging 3.67 kills per set. Horstman leads the team with a .349 hitting percentage on the season, making good on most opportunities she has to put balls away for Northwestern. Defensively, senior Emily Strasser (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) paces the team with 476 digs, while also sitting second on the team in service aces with 36. Jadeyn Schutt (Jr., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) and Olivia Granstra (So., Sheldon, Iowa/Western Christian) have shared setting duties in the Raiders’ rotation this season, as Schutt has tallied a team-high 639 assists and Granstra tallied 411 assists. Schutt also led the team with 43 service aces.
Northwestern played host to the Cougars of Indiana University Kokomo in the Opening Round back on November 20. Taking the Cougars down in straight sets led by the dominant play of First Team All-GPAC middle hitter Bekah Horstman (Sr., Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian) who led the match with 15 kills on a .560 hitting percentage, and recorded seven blocks. Dexter was the other Raider who paced the seemingly unstoppable Raider attack with 11 kills. Coming out of the Opening Round, the Raiders led all Opening Round matches with a .382 team hitting percentage as the Raiders came ready to play inside the Bultman Center.
Horstman has also been a menace at the net on the defensive side, notching 131 blocks this season with 23 of them being solo blocks. Macay Van’t Hul (So., Rock Valley, Iowa/Western Christian) and Katie Peters (Jr., Le Mars, Iowa/Gehlen Catholic) have also contributed to the blocking party on the season, tallying 90 and 75 blocks, respectively.
The Raiders hold a record of 2-10 against teams that have punched their ticket to the final site as most of those losses came in tough five-set losses in conference play this season.
College of Saint Mary
Originally tabbed to finish sixth in the GPAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Flames have shocked everyone putting together a nice resume under fifth-year head coach Rick Pruett. Putting together a 26-5 overall record, the Flames worked their way up to being ranked No. 5 nationally, after being ranked No. 23 in the NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Amidst the tough competition of the GPAC, the Flames continued to make a name for themselves this season putting together a 13-3 league record and taking the No. 2 seed in this year’s conference tournament.
Eastern Oregon
The Mountaineers are led by 15th year head coach Kaki McClean Morehead and hail out of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC). Morehead led the Mountaineers to a 26-7 (19-3 CCC) mark this season, and will enter the Final Site as the No. 12-ranked team in the NAIA.
Pool F Schedule
Tuesday, November 30
College of Saint Mary vs. (3) Northwestern – 10:30 a.m. | Court 3
Eastern Oregon vs. (3) Northwestern – 5:00 p.m. | Court 3
Wednesday, December 1
College of Saint Mary vs. (2) Eastern Oregon – 1:00 p.m. | Court 1
First serve for the Raiders is set for 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning against the College of Saint Mary. Northwestern will then turn around and face the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon at 5:00 p.m. Both matches will take place on Court 3 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The winner of the pool will advance to the quarterfinals, knock out style, bracket play.
