Lauryn Hilger put down a team-high 11 kills in leading No.7 Northwestern to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) win over Peru State in non-conference volleyball action played at the Bultman Center tonight. The Red Raiders improve to 5-1 on the season, heading into the GoSarpy.Com Invite, a tournament hosted by Bellevue (Neb.) later this week.
Hilger was one of five Red Raiders to put down at least five kills, hitting .409 and reaching double figures for the fifth time in six matches played this season.
Makenzie Fink added six kills, four in the final set, and hit .500 a season-best .500 and
Emily Reynen also put down six kills. Both
Emily Van Ginkel and
Bekah Horstman totaled five kills and two blocks each.
Leading 12-10 in the opening set, a Horstman kill gave the Red Raiders a sideout and three-point lead. Freshman
Emily Strasser served four consecutive points, including one ace serve, to push the Red Raider lead to 17-10. Peru State charged back, outscoring the hosts 7-2, to force a Northwestern timeout at 19-17. A Bobcats' serving error followed and
Ann Pater served three straight points to get the lead back up to five and Hilger finished off the first set with a cross court smash and a 25-21 win.
Northwestern raced out to an 11-1 lead in set two behind the strong serving of Hilger and Strasser, forcing a Peru State timeout. Successful attacks by Van Ginkel and
Lacey Wacker extended the hosts lead even further (19-6) as the Red Raiders took a commanding 2-0 lead with a 25-16 win.
Set three was much tighter with Peru State leading 13-12 after kills by Claire Cudney and Kira Shapiro. Tied at 15, back-to-back errors by Peru State put Van Den Bosch's squad up for good and Hilger and Horstman combined for five kills over the Red Raiders final seven points in taking the set 25-18.
Northwestern held the advantage in nearly every statistical category, hitting .250 with six blocks compared to .146 and four blocks by Peru State. Wacker put up 29 assists and led the Red Raiders with 11 digs. Strasser totaled nine digs and Hilger served a match-high four aces.
Yorgelys Jaspe led the Bobcats with 11 kills in 22 attempts to go with 10 digs. Peru State falls to 0-2 on the year.
