ORANGE CITY, Iowa — For the second straight match, the No. 8-ranked Northwestern volleyball team (8-2, 1-1 GPAC) drops a five set heartbreaker to a fellow top-15 opponent; falling to No. 2-ranked Jamestown (10-0, 1-0 GPAC) in the rematch of the 2020 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) championship match.
Defending NAIA Defensive Player of the Week Bekah Horstman (Sr., Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian) led the charge defensively at the net for Northwestern, gathering 7.0 blocks. Senior Emily Strasser (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) and freshman Alysen Dexter (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) both tallying double-digit kills with 14 and 12, respectively.
In the Raider’s quasi-home opener down the street at MOC-Floyd Valley High School, the Raiders welcomed second-ranked Jimmes of Jamestown to Orange City to continue GPAC play this evening. The Jimmies jumped out early taking the first set of the night 25-19.
Though down early, Northwestern would battle back taking sets 2 and 3, both by the score of 25-23 to take the 2-1 match lead. Though the Raiders couldn’t hold onto the lead they fought so hard to gain, they mark the first team this season to win a set against Jamestown. Though Jamestown has taken down three teams either ranked or receiving votes, no team had ever had a match lead against the Jimmies this season until tonight. Good things happened when sophomore left-hander Olivia Granstra (Sheldon, Iowa/Western Christian) as she always sparked rallies for the Raiders, a major reason Northwestern prevailed in the second and third sets.
Northwestern ran out of gas in the fourth set, as the Jimmies pulled away in the set, taking it 25-17 to force the decisive fifth set. In the fifth set, the Raiders started hot jumping out to a 5-1 lead. With a 10-8 lead, Jamestown went of a 5-0 spurt to steal the momentum and force a Northwestern time out. They would take the first point out of the break, thus making a comeback nearly impossible with a 13-10 advantage. Though the Raiders would make it a 13-11 game thanks to a Jimmie service error, the Jimmies would prevail and take the fifth set and the match, 15-12.
Offensively, the Raiders attack struggled on the evening, managing only a .150 hitting percentage to Jamestown’s .233. Jamestown put away 68 kills to Northwestern’s 43. Katie Peters (Jr., Le Mars, Iowa/Gehlen Catholic) led the team with 10 kills, Horstman tallied nine, and Dexter had eight. Back in her old high school gym, junior Jadeyn Schutt (Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) tallied a team-leading 20 assists on the evening, while Granstra tallied 11.
Up Next: Northwestern looks to turn it around when they return to the court on Wednesday, September 15 when they travel to Mitchell, S.D. for a GPAC clash with (RV) Dakota Wesleyan with first set set for 7:30 p.m.
