Northwestern College made quick work of short-handed Doane with a 3-0 sweep in a GPAC volleyball match played tonight at the Bultman Center. Individual game scores were 25-7, 25-14 and 25-13. The Raiders extend their win streak to five and improve to 7-1 in the GPAC, 9-1 overall.
The Raiders hit a season-best .451 and all five hitters had at least seven kills. A.J. Kacmarynski and Emily Van Ginkel put away nine kills each and hit over .400 for the match. Macay Van’t Hul registered eight kills and three blocks while hitting a season-best .700. Makenzie Fink and Anna Wedel added eight and seven kills, respectively.
Directing the highly efficient offense was Lacey Reitz, who totaled 40 assists to go with six digs and one ace. Emily Straser (11 digs) and Wedel (9 digs) led the backrow play.
Set One: 25-7 win
Leading 14-7, Northwestern scored the final 11 points to win set one, 25-7. Reitz served the final 10 points and had six assists to three different Raiders during the final run. Fink put away three attacks, Wedel two and Van’t Hul one; Fink and Van’t Hul combined for a block a well. Northwestern hit .524 and held Doane to a -.300 in the first set.
Set Two: 25-14 win
An early 4-0 run, finished off by a kill from Kacmarynski, put Northwestern in front for good in set two. Leading by three (16-13), the Raiders closed on a 9-1 run with the serving of Reitz and Jadeyn Schutt. Van’t Hul continued to dominate at the net, pounding down four kills during the stretch run. Northwestern hit a match-best .615 in set two; Doane hit .091.
Set Three: 25-13 win
Successful attacks from Van Ginkel and a kill by Reitz gave the hosts a 6-4 advantage early in set three. The teams traded sideouts over the next while, until, up 14-11, Northwestern closed the match on an 11-2 run. Natalie De Haan served four points and Savonne Sterk served three; match point was won off a kill from Taylor Meyer.
Doane was led by Katie Ellard, Kennedy Scheele and Ryed Creek with three kills each.
