Northwestern College earned its fourth straight win with a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-20, 25-15) over College of Saint Mary Saturday afternoon in Omaha, Neb. The Red Raiders improve to 12-1 in the GPAC and are tied with Hastings for first place with three conference matches remaining. They move to 25-2 overall, surpassing their win total in each of the last two seasons. 

Makenzie Fink led all players with 12 kills in 20 attacks, hitting .500 over the 3-set match. Anna Kiel added 10 kills and added 2.5 blocks while hitting .500 at the net. Lacey Wacker put up 37 assists and served two aces in directing a Red Raider offense that hit .452 against the Flames. 

6-0 Run Sparks Red Raiders' Win In First Set

With the first set tied at 12, Kiel put down a kill and ignited a 6-0 Northwestern run, behind the strong serving of A.J. Horstman. CSM came back with three straight points to get back to within three (18-15) but Northwestern scored the final seven points to take the first set 25-15. Lauryn Hilger served the final six points and Fink recorded a pair of kills during the run. 

Fast Start Leads To Second Set Victory

Consecutive kills by Fink, Hilger and Josie Blankespoor put Northwestern in front 4-0 to start set two. Following a sideout by both CSM and Northwestern, Karsyn Winterfeld recorded four straight ace serves to put the Red Raiders in front 9-1 and forcing the Flames' into a timeout. From there, the teams traded points and with a successful attack by Kiel, Northwestern won set two 25-20. 

Northwestern Closes Match With Convincing Third Set Win

Tied at seven, Northwestern outscored CSM 18-8 the rest of the way to earn a 25-15 win. The Red Raiders had three aces during the run, two by Kiel, and they hit better than .500 in the third set. 

By the Numbers...

Northwestern held the edge at the net, hitting .452, compared to .141 by the Flames; the Red Raiders hit better than .500 in each of the final two sets

The Red Raiders also had the edge in blocks (8-2), led by Kiel (2.5) and Blankespoor (2).

Winterfeld had four of the Red Raiders 10 aces; Hilger had a team-best eight digs and Winterfeld totaled six

Dani Carlson led the Flames with nine kills and 13 assists.