12th-ranked Northwestern used a dominant effort at the net to come away with a four-set win over Dakota Wesleyan in a GPAC match-up tonight in Mitchell, S.D. Individual scores include 25-11, 20-25, 25-17, 25-16.
The Red Raiders earned their second straight win as the conclude a three-match road trip, improving to 9-2 in the GPAC, 18-5 overall. Dakota Wesleyan lost its third straight contest and is 2-9 in the conference, 12-11 overall.
Lauryn Hilger put down a match-high 16 kills, one of three Northwestern players to record double figures.
Josie Blankespoor contributed 15 kills and
Makenzie Fink floored 11 while both players were in on three blocks.
Emily Van Ginkel (7 kills) and
Bekah Horstman (6 kills) both registered seven blocks, leading to a huge 26-17 advantage in blocking for the Red Raiders.
Lacey Wacker orchestrated Van Den Bosch's offense, lofting up 49 assists and
Emily Strasser put up 18 digs and matched her career-high with four aces.
Set One...
Two plus hours on the road to Mitchell, S.D. did not seem to slow down the Red Raiders as they stormed out to a 13-2 lead and forced DWU into taking both timeouts. Strasser served five points and Fink served seven points during the run. A string of four straight points by the host Tigers temporarily slowed NWC, cutting their lead to 14-7. Van Den Bosch's squad closed DWU with an 11-6 run, earning set point after a kill by Fink. Northwestern hit .306, committing just one error at the net, and limited the Tigers to a negative hitting percentage.
Set Two...
Dakota Wesleyan took advantage of 11 Red Raider errors to earn a 25-20 set two win. Tied at both six and later at 12 and 18, DWU scored three straight points to push ahead and get the win. Northwestern was outhit 17% - 8% in the second set.
Set Three...
Northwestern hit a match-best .419 and closed on an 11-6 run to take the third set 25-17. Close early as the teams traded points, Fink, Hilger and Blankespoor combined for eight kills during the final surge to pull away.
Set Four...
Van Den Bosch's squad led from start to finish the final set, hitting .333 compared to .03 by DWU. An 8-0 run, served by
Sydney Martin, put Northwestern in front 19-9 as the Red Raiders were able to side out the hosts for the win.
By the Numbers...
Northwestern held the advantage in nearly every stat, including ace serves (8-3)
Hilger hit for double figures for the 21st time this season; with her 22 digs, Hilger has 11 double-doubles
Blankespoor recorded double figures for the seventh time; fifth in the last six matches
Fink put down 10+ kills for the eight time this season
Chelsey Heeg led DWU with 11 kills and Emily Brunsing totaled seven kills and seven blocks
