No.11 Northwestern College earned its 13th straight win with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-19) victory over Dakota Wesleyan in a GPAC match-up played tonight in Mitchell, S.D. The Red Raiders improve to 3-0 in conference play, 16-1 overall while DWU drops to 1-3 in conference play, 12-7 overall. 

A.J. Horstman put down a match-high 12 kills and hit .240 from the rightside, totaling 10+ kills for the 10th time this season. Both Lauryn Hilger and Anna Kiel added nine kills and Makenzie Fink had a career-best seven ace serves. 

How It Happened...

The Red Raiders fell behind by as many as five (11-6) early in the opening set; still trailing by four (18-14), Northwestern closed with an 11-3 run, sparked by the serving of Fink, to earn a come-from-behind win. Northwestern hit .257 in the first set and DWU hit 14%, its highest efficiency of the match.

The teams traded points for much of the opening part of set two; down by one (13-12), Northwestern once again closed with a big run, outscoring DWU 13-2 to win the second, 25-15. 

Northwestern led from start to finish in the final set, pushing out to a 19-7 lead. 

By the Numbers...

Northwestern hit .305 for the match and limited DWU to 7%; the Red Raiders hit better each set, raising its efficiency to 39% in the final set. 

Josie Blankespoor put down seven kills and a team-high four blocks

Lacey Wacker recorded 38 assists

Kiel led the backrow with 10 digs and Karsyn Winterfeld added eight digs and three aces.

The Red Raiders totaled 13 ace serves compared to four for DWU

Northwestern has won 13 straight matches, the longest win streak since the 2014 season (14 straight)

Rebecca Frick led DWU with six kills and Bridgett Knobbe added 12 assists and two aces