12th-ranked Northwestern fell to Morningside in a five-set thriller played tonight at the Rosen Verdoorn Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Individual game scores were 27-29, 25-22, 25-19, 18-25 and 16-14. The Red Raiders lost for the first time in seven matches and drop to 7-2 in GPAC play, 16-5 overall. 

Lauryn Hilger was one of three Red Raiders to put down double figure kills, matching her career-best with 24 kills in 65 attacks. Josie Blankespoor floored a career-best 17 kills and Makenzie Fink added 14, hitting a team-best .314 over the five-set match. 

Both teams hit .250 and Northwestern held a slight edge in blocking, 8.5 - 7.0. Lacey Wacker put up 54 assists in leading the Red Raider offense while Emily Strasser led the backrow with 17 digs, one of three players with 10+ digs. Allison Koehlmoos matched her career-best with 10 digs and Hilger totaled 12, recording her ninth double-double of the season.

Set One...

Northwestern fell behind early and trailed by as many as five (18-13) following a kill by Mustangs outside hitter Krista Zenk. Without timeouts, Northwestern rallied, scoring nine of the next 12 points to grab its first lead, 22-21, after a kill by Bekah Horstman. Blankespoor converted on an attack to put her team in front 24-22 but Morningside came back with the next three points and served for the set. The teams traded points thereafter until, tied at 27, a Morningside error and a kill by Hilger gave Van Den Bosch's team a 29-27 win.

Set Two...

Following a brief early lead by the Red Raiders, Morningside took control with a 6-1 run and went on to win set two 25-22. The Mustangs hit 39% in the set, totaling 20 kills against just five errors, as they led by 2-4 points throughout.

Set Three...

The teams traded the first eight points until a 5-1 Mustangs run put the hosts in front once again 9-5. With the Mustangs extending their lead to as much as six (20-14), Northwestern charged back and made it a three-point game after kills by Hilger and Blankespoor. Morningside closed the set by scoring four of the final five points to take a 2-1 sets lead.

Set Four...

Facing a must-win fourth set, Northwestern played its best, hitting 28% while holding Morningside to just 10 kills and 8% hit percentage. Just like the previous three sets, however, Morningside got out to a strong start, leading 6-2. Van Den Bosch's squad came back with a 10-4 run and tied it at 12. Trading the six points, Northwestern went ahead for good at 16-15 and outscored Morningside 9-3 for a 25-18 win.

Set Five...

Morningside, once again, was the team to get off to a great start, opening up a commanding 9-3 lead and force Van Den Bosch to use both timeouts. Northwestern, however, was not done as they scored seven of the next eight points to tie the set at 10. The decisive set was tied again at 11, 12 and 14 until the host Mustangs scored the final two points, ending on a kill by Madison Hartman, to earn the upset win.

Morningside (6-3, 11-7) was led by Zenk with 25 kills and Madison Hartman put down 14. 

Northwestern will play at College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Neb. on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7:30pm.