No.8 Northwestern College lost to 25th-ranked Marian (Ind.) 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-16) in the opening pool H match played tonight at the 2018 NAIA Volleyball National Championship held at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The Red Raiders are 0-1 in pool play and 24-8 overall. 

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Lauryn Hilger put down a team-high 11 kills, Makenzie Fink added 10 in leading a Red Raider offense that hit .178 for the match, its third lowest hitting percentage of the season. Lacey Wacker put up 30 assists and seven digs and Emily Strasser totaled a match-high 12 digs. Bekah Horstman put down seven kills and hit .313 while Emily Van Ginkel added five kills.

    First Set: Marian 26  Northwestern 24

After falling behind early in the first set, Northwestern used a 9-3 run to pull ahead by two (10-8) on an ace serve by Ann Pater. Two successful attacks by Bekah Horstman and a kill from Hilger gave the Red Raiders their largest lead (15-11) and forced Marian into a timeout. The Knights rallied, however, and came back to take the lead (18-17) and the teams traded points for a 21-21 tie. Kills from Horstman and Fink and an error by Marian put Northwestern a point away from the first set (24-22) but the Knights came back to score the final four points for the come-from-behind win.

    Second Set: Marian  25        Northwestern  18

Northwestern fell behind early and could not recover as the Knights won set two 25-18. Down by as many as six (13-7), Van Den Bosch's squad began to rally, getting kills from Fink, Horstman and Harold to get within two, 17-15. Marian came back to score the next two points, however, and closed with an 8-3 run to take a 2-0 sets lead. 

    Third Set:    Marian  25            Northwestern 16

For the third straight set, Northwestern trailed early as a confident Knights squad jumped out to an 8-3 advantage. The Red Raiders closed the gap to two four different times, the final at 13-11 after a successful attack from Hilger. Still down just three (17-14), Marian sealed the match with an 8-2 run, scoring the final five points, to earn the sweep.

By the Numbers...

    Northwestern hit .178 compared to .292 by the Knights

    Red Raiders totaled two blocks, one each for Horstman and Josie Blankespoor; Marian registered four blocks

    Northwestern served three aces; Marian totaled seven

    Hannah Trout led the Knights with 11 kills, hitting .526 for the match