Northwestern College improved its overall record to. 500 with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 26-24) sweep over Briar Cliff Tuesday night at the Bultman Center. The win moves the Red Raiders to 6-4 in the GPAC and 14-14 overall heading into Saturday's match-up at No. 3 Hastings (Neb.).
The Red Raiders fired its way to a .297 hitting percentage, led by Lauren Hilger with 17 kills and a .324 kill efficiency. Jessica Jensen put down nine kills and Caley Vink matched her career-high with eight kills and one block.
Early Run Sparks Northwestern To First Set Win
Tough serving by Jessa Doom and Jillian Estes put Northwestern out front 6-1 early as the Red Raiders never trailed in set one. Briar Cliff kept within striking distance for most of the set, getting to within three (22-19) but Jessica Jensen put down a kill following a Northwestern timeout and the hosts traded sideouts to earn the 25-21 win. The Red Raiders hit .295 and six different players had at least one kill in the opening set for the hosts.
Red Raider Offense Leads Way In Set Two
Northwestern hit a match-high .406, totaling 18 kills in 32 attempts, in earning a 25-21 win in set two. Hilger came up big, putting down seven kills in the set, and the Red Raiders closed on a 6-3 run to pull away. Vink finished off the Chargers with a kill in the final point to give her team a 2-0 lead.
Late Rally Gives Northwestern A Sweep
Northwestern fell behind for the only time in the match early in the third but stormed back behind the serving of Casey Perez to take a 10-6 advantage. Perez served five consecutive points and both Hilger and A.J. Horstman put down kills during the rally. Briar Cliff came back to tie the set at 13 and remained tight for the duration. Tied at 24, Northwestern scored the final two points off BCU errors to sweep the match.
Red Raider Notes:
Northwestern held the advantage in hitting percentage (.297-.196), improving to 13-2 on the year when hitting better than its opponent.
Hilger remained the go-to player for the Red Raiders, reaching double figures for 24th time this season.
Jensen was just one kill shy of double figures
Jessa Doom matched her career-high with six kills to go with 38 assists and eight digs
Northwestern totaled just two ace serves and had 10 service errors
Jillian Estes led the defense in the backrow with 13 kills
Briar Cliff was led by Katelin Langel with 14 kills and Courtney Schafer added nine
