No.3 Northwestern College defeated Briar Cliff in four sets (20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20) in a GPAC match-up played tonight at the Bultman Center. The Red Raiders improve to 10-1 in GPAC play, 23-2 overall and Briar Cliff falls to 6-6 in conference play, 16-6 overall. 

Anna Kiel hit .583 and totaled a match-high 16 kills to go with eight digs to lead the Red Raider offense. Makenzie Fink added 10 kills and six digs while Josie Blankespoor, Lauryn Hilger and A.J. Horstman all contributed nine kills each. 

Red Raiders Fall Behind Early In First Set Loss

Northwestern fell behind 10-4 early in the opening set, forcing the hosts to use their first timeout. The Red Raiders came back, and, following back-to-back aces by Fink, were with two (13-11) and eventually came within one (18-17). A three-point run by Briar Cliff, however, put the Chargers back in control as they closed on a 7-3 run to take the first set. BCU hit its best (.240) in the opening set and also held the Red Raiders to their match-low 16%

Northwestern Pulls Away In Tight Second Set

The Red Raiders fell victim to another slow start, falling behind 7-4, until a 6-0 run put the hosts in front for good in set two. Blankespoor recorded back-to-back kills and Lacey Wacker served five straight points during the run. Northwestern built up a seven-point lead (21-14) but BCU rallied and made it a two-point game (23-21) before a Chargers attack error followed by a kill by Kiel put the Red Raiders on top. 

Red Raiders Strong Net Play Leads To Set Three Win

Northwestern hit .333 and held the Chargers to a match-low 4% in a 25-20 third set win. The Red Raiders broke a 6-6 tie with a 9-2 run, getting kills by four different players to take control of the set. 

Late Surge Pushes Northwestern Past BCU In Final Set

Trailing by one (12-11), Northwestern grabbed the lead for good after a kill by Kiel and three straight errors by Briar Cliff on the serve from Horstman. Still a two-point game (20-18), successive kills by Fink and Horstman triggered a 5-2 run to close out the match.

By the Numbers...

Northwestern hit .322 for the match, the 17th time they hit better than .300 this season; Briar Cliff hit .162 over the four sets.

Both teams recorded nine blocks; Blankespoor led the Red Raiders with 4.5 blocks and Kiel contributed 2.5

Northwestern totaled five aces, two each by Wacker and Fink

Kiel has hit for double figures in 20 matches this season; Fink has nine matches in double figures

Keely Woods led BCU with 13 kills and Emily Sanburg put down nine