Northwestern College extended its win streak to four with a 3-1 victory over Dakota Wesleyan in a conference match-up played tonight at the Bultman Center. Individual game scores were 17-25, 25-23, 25-16 and 25-20.
The Raiders improve to 6-1 in the GPAC, 8-1 overall; DWU slips to 4-6 in the conference, 8-6 overall. Tonight’s win was the Raiders second of the season against DWU.
Makenzie Fink put away a season-high 21 kills, two shy her career best, and hit .460 for the match. A.J. Kacmarysnski hit for double figures for her third consecutive match with 13 and Anna Wedel tallied another double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs.
Lacey Reitz directed a Raider offense that hit .282 over the four sets, lofting up 53 assists, 12 digs and serving a team-high two aces. Reitz has four double-doubles this season. Emily Strasser led the backrow with 20 digs.
Set One: 25-17 loss
Dakota Wesleyan scored the first five points and never trailed in its 25-17 first set win. Freshman Ady Dwight totaled seven kills and the Tigers hit 26% compared to 22% by Northwestern.
Set Two: 25-23 win
Northwestern held a 2-3 point advantage for the majority of set two until DWU tied it at 21. Knotted for the final time at 22, Fink blasted a kill to force the Tigers into a timeout. Successful attacks by Emily Van Ginkel and Reitz closed out the win for the Raiders as they tied the match at 1-1
Set Three: 25-16 win
A 13-5 run turned an early deficit into a 20-13 lead as Northwestern came away with a decisive 25-16 win.The Raiders hit a match-best .406, slamming down 16 kills in 32 attempts with only three errors.
Set Four: 25-20 win
Northwestern fell behind by five early and still trailed 16-12 midway into the final set. Consecutive kills from Wedel and Macay Van’t Hul finished off a 6-1 run that gave the hosts their first lead in the fourth. Tied later at 18, kills from Wedel and Fink followed by an error by DWU, gave Northwestern the lead for good. Kacmarynski put down match point off an assist by Reitz.
Dakota Wesleyan hit .220 and was led by Ady Dwight with 21 kills while Mackenzie Miller added 12.
