Game Time...No.9 Northwestern hosts Briar Cliff for a conference match-up Friday night, Oct. 19, at the Bultman Center. First serve is scheduled for 7:30pm. Northwestern is tied with Midland for second place in the current GPAC standings with an 11-2 record, 20-5 overall. Briar Cliff is seventh in the current GPAC standings with a 5-8 record, 11-11 overall. 

Follow the match live, via the Northwestern webcast at the following link: Watch Now! 

All-Time...Northwestern is 58-10 all-time against Briar Cliff, earning a sweep over the Chargers earlier this season. 

Last Time vs BCU...Three Red Raiders totaled 10+ kills in their 25-16, 26-24, 25-22 win over Briar Cliff in their conference opener played Sept. 4 in Sioux City, Iowa. Bekah Horstman led the way with a a career-best 11 kills in 16 swings, hitting .625, while both Lauryn Hilger and Emily Van Ginkel put down 10 kills each. The Red Raiders held a 10-6 edge in blocks, highlighted by Van Ginkel with five. Emily Strasser and Hilger were tops in the backrow with nine digs. 

Briar Cliff hit .160 for the match, led by Courtney Schafer with 11. Victoria Gonzalez added seven kills in 22 attempts.

Scouting Reports...

    Briar Cliff: 5-8 (7th), 11-11                      Head Coach: Trevor Schirman (5th year)

Briar Cliff has lost two straight and four of the last five matches to fall into seventh place in the GPAC with a 5-8 league record, 11-11 overall. They are 1.5 games in back of city-rival Morningside, a team they defeated earlier in the season, and lead Doane by a half game with three matches left in the regular season. The Chargers swept Doane earlier adn hold the tiebreak over the Tigers.

Schirman, in his fifth season as the head of the Chargers' volleyball program, returns three starters and six players from a 2017 team that finished seventh in the GPAC with an 8-8 record, 18-9 overall. BCU was picked to finish ninth in the conference preseason coaches' poll.

By the Numbers (GPAC / NAIA rank-if top 10)
        Kills/Game: 11.3 (11th)
        Hitting %: .176 (11th)
        Aces: 110 (7th)
        Digs/Set: 13.7 (11th)
        Blocks/Set: 1.76 (9th)

     Top Players (GPAC / NAIA rank-if top 10)
        Courtney Schafer - 2.9 kills/set, .242%, 22 blocks
        Victoria Gonzalez - 2.5 kills/set, .167%, 25 blocks
        Grace Whitlaw - 64 blocks (8th)
        Delaney Meyer (HM All-Conference) - 4.9 assists/set
        Danielle Coronado - 8 a1ces, 3.3 digs/set
        Maureen Imrie - 26 aces (5th)

    9th-ranked Northwestern: 11-2 (T2nd), 20-5               Head Coach: Kyle Van Den Bosch (14th year)

The Red Raiders have won four straight and are 14-2 since the beginning of September. They are tied with Midland for second place in the GPAC with an 11-2 record, owning the tiebreak over the Warriors, with three matches left in the regular season. Northwestern is 20-5 overall, earning its 20th win for the 12th time in Van Den Bosch's 14 years on the sideline.

By the Numbers... (GPAC Rank / NAIA-if top 10)
        Kills/Game: 14.2 (1st / 1st)
        Hitting %: .285 (1st/5th)
        Aces: 156 (1st)
        Digs/Set: 14.1 (10th)
        Blocks/Set: 2.1 (7th)

     Top Players:
        Lauryn Hilger - 4.6 kills/set (1st/ 3rd), .339 (2nd), 2.9 digs/set, 39 aces (1st)
        Makenzie Fink - 2.6 kills/set, .263%, 29 aces (3rd)
        Josie Blankespoor - 2.3 kills/set, .213%
        Emily Van Ginkel - 1.9 kills/set, .280%, 65 blocks
        Bekah Horstman - 1.5 kills/set, .343%, 84 blocks (6th)
        Lacey Wacker - 11.7 assists/set (1st / 1st), 1.9 digs/set
        Emily Strasser - 3.9 digs/set (8th), 20 aces (10th)