The 2018 season comes to a close as Northwestern lost to #7 Viterbo (Wis.) 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-21) in a round of 16 match-up at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship played earlier this morning at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. 

The Red Raiders finish with a 26-9 overall record and move to 27-30 all-time at the championship. 

Lauryn Hilger closed her outstanding career with 13 kills, seven in the final set, and hit .321 against the V-Hawks. Makenzie Fink put down seven kills, hitting .250, and contributed three of the Red Raiders four aces. Lacey Wacker put up 24 assists and shared team high honors, along wth Hilger, with seven digs. 

A day after hitting over .300 in their thrilling win over Rocky Mountain to close out pool play, Northwestern was limited to .031 in the three-set match against the long front line of Viterbo.

First Set:  Viterbo  25        Northwestern 13

Northwestern overcame an early 4-1 deficit with a kill from Josie Blankespoor, attack error by the V-Hawks and an ace serve by Emily Strasser to tie the set at four. Knotted at six, Viterbo seized the lead for good with four straight points, forcing the Red Raiders into a timeout. Back within two (10-8), the V-Hawks outscored Northwestern 7-1 over the next stretch and scored the final four points for a 25-13 win. 

Second Set:  Viterbo  25        Northwestern 17

The teams traded points early in set two until, with Viterbo leading 12-11, the V-Hawks used a 5-1 to push the lead to 17-12. Kills by Emily Van Ginkel and Fink, coupled with an ace by Fink, brought Van Den Bosch's squad to within two (17-15) but Viterbo closed with an 8-2 run to take a 2-0 set lead. 

Third Set:  Viterbo   25            Northwestern  21

Falling into a 3-0 hole at the start of the third, Northwestern answered with a 7-2 run behind the play of Hilger (4 kills) to put the Red Raiders in front 7-5. Tied at 10, Viterbo put the match away with eight consecutive points, served by Chloe Jakscht, for an 18-10 lead. The Red Raiders made it close in the end, getting to within three before Katie Frohmader won it for the V-Hawks with a successful attack on match point. 

By the Numbers...

Northwestern hit 3% for the match and was held to held a negative efficiency in the first two sets; they hit .225 in the final set; Viterbo hit 34% for the match

Both teams totaled four aces; Viterbo had the slight edge in blocks (5-4).

Lydie Xu and Aubrey Aspen led Viterbo with nine kills each; Lauryn Sobasky put up 14 assists and eight digs

This marks the final match for the two Red Raider seniors; Lauryn Hilger and Allison Koehlmoos; Hilger closes her career seventh in career kills (1,642) and 15th in career digs (353); Koehlmoos totaled 214 digs in her career.