No.4 Northwestern College defeated Briar Cliff 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-13, 25-21) in a GPAC Quarterfinal match played tonight at the Bultman Center. The Red Raiders, now 28-3 on the season, advance to play No.5 Dordt College in the GPAC semifinals on Wednesday night at 7pm. Briar Cliff has its season come to an end at 18-9.
Lauryn Hilger led all players with 15 kills and 18 digs, posting her fifth double-double of the season, 23rd for her career.
Anna Kiel added 11 kills and
Makenzie Fink put down nine kills to go with two ace serves.
Lacey Wacker guided the Red Raider offense with 43 assists and totaled three aces.
Red Raiders Close On 6-2 Run To Get First Set Win
Trailing by two (21-19) in the opening set, Northwestern scored six of the final eight points for a 25-23 come-from-behind win. Fink started the rally with consecutive kills followed by an ace serve, tying the set at 22. Tied again at 23 after a kill by
A.J. Horstman, Northwestern forced the Chargers in back-to-back attack errors, set up the serving of Winterfield. The first set featured a total of eight ties and five lead changes.
Briar Cliff Answers With Set Two Win
The Chargers held Northwestern to an 8% kill efficiency in earning a 25-21 set two win. Briar Cliff broke a 16-16 tie with three straight points off kills by Melissa Ditter and Toni Beck and then was able to sideout the Red Raiders for the win. BCU recorded five of its 10 kills in set two.
Northwestern Steps Up In Set Three
The Red Raiders hit .400 in a dominating 25-13 set three win. Northwestern never trailed, opening up a 6-0 lead with the serving of Wacker. An ace from Kiel followed by a successful attack by
Josie Blankespoor led to set point and Northwestern won the set after an error by Briar Cliff.
Red Raiders Pull Away Late To Take Match
Northwestern broke open a tight fourth set with a 7-3 run to win the match. A kill by Keely Woods tied the set at 18 for BCU but Northwestern came back with seven of the next 10 points, led by Hilger who totaled three kills down the stretch.
By the Numbers...
Northwestern hit 19%, totaling 49 kills in 136 attempts against 23 errors; Briar Cliff hit 14% for the match (39/126 and 21 errors); the Red Raiders hit for the higher percentage in sets one and three
The Red Raiders put down eight blocks, led by
Josie Blankespoor with 3.5;
A.J. Horstman added 2.5
Northwestern totaled 10 ace serves, led by Wacker (3) and both Fink and Horstman with two
Hilger led all players with 18 digs; the junior now has 15 matches with 10+ digs;
Karsyn Winterfeld recorded nine digs and both Fink and Kiel totaled eight
Hilger has hit for double figures in nine matches; Kiel has 25 matches with 10+ kills
Briar Cliff was led by Toni Beck with 11 and Keely Woods and Courtney Schafer put down seven kills each
