Anna Kiel put down a team-high 16 kills in leading No.14 Northwestern to a four-set win (25-19, 19-25, 25-13, 25-20) over No.5 Dordt in a GPAC match-up between ranked teams.
The Red Raiders move to 1-0 in conference play and won their 11th straight match, improving to 14-1 on the year. Dordt lost for just the third time this season (13-3) and had its 12-match win streak end.
One of three Red Raiders who hit for double figures, Kiel put down 16 kills in 26 attacks, hitting .462 against the Defenders. Makenzie Fink added a career-high 15 kills and A.J. Horstman added 12. Lacey Wacker put up 46 assists and orchestrated a Red Raider offense that hit .331 over the four sets. Karsyn Winterfeld was the leader in the backrow, matching her career-high with 15 digs.
among the stat leaders for Dordt Ema Altena had 18 kills to lead all players. Leah Kamp added nine kills and Julia Lindbergh had eight. Jamie Gesink recorded 35 assists and Summer Jansen had 23 digs.
With Northwestern down two (8-6), the Red Raiders scored the next nine points behind the serving of Kiel and kills from Josie Blankespoor and Fink. The Red Raiders were able to sideout Dordt the rest of the way to get the 25-19 win.
Set two was close early with the teams trading points; tied at nine, Dordt pulled ahead for good with a 6-1 run, getting a kill and two aces from junior Ema Altena. Northwestern fought back to get within one (19-18) but three straight kills by Altena and one by Kamp gave the Defenders the win, 25-19
The third was once again tight early, with ties at both 6-6 and 7-7. Kiel and Lauryn Hilger served another big run for the Red Raiders, scoring seven of the next eight points, along with kills by Kiel, Blankespoor and Fink. With Northwestern leading 21-11, Kiel clinched the set with four kills to lead the Red Raiders to a 25-13 win.
Knotted at seven, Northwestern outscored Dordt 8-2 to take the lead for good in the fourth and final set; another successful attack by Kiel gave the Red Raiders an eight point lead late (21-13) and the hosts held off a late Defender surge to get the win, 25-20
