Lauryn Hilger and Josie Blankespoor totaled double figure kills in leading 15th-ranked Northwestern to a 3-0 sweep over Doane in GPAC match-up played tonight at the Bultman Center. Individual scores were 25-20, 25-12, 25-15. 

The Red Raiders earned their fifth straight win and improved to 6-1 in the GPAC, 15-4 overall. Doane dropped its third consecutive match to fall to 2-5 in the conference, 9-10 overall. 

Hilger led all players with 12 kills, hitting .346 over the three sets, while Blankespoor put down 11 kills, one shy of her career high, and accounted for three blocks. Emily Van Ginkel (6 kills, 5 blocks) and Bekah Horstman (5 kills, 4 blocks) controlled the middle and helped limit Doane to just a .057 attack percentage for the match. Lacey Wacker put up 33 assists and Emily Strasser led the backrow with 15 digs and served three of the Red Raiders' eight aces.

First Set...

Northwestern scored the first five points on kills from five different players en route to a 9-2 lead and forcing Doane into a timeout. The teams traded points over the next stretch, until, with Northwestern up 17-10, Doane scored six of the next eight points points to cut the lead down to three, 19-16. Coach Van Den Bosch's squad was able to regroup following a timeout and closed with a 6-4 run to win the set 25-20.

Second Set...

Using the momentum from their first set win, Northwestern raced out to a 15-2 lead and never trailed in earning a 25-12 victory in set two. The Red Raiders totaled six aces in their set two win and limited Doane to just four kills against seven errors. 

Third Set...

Northwestern started fast once again in set three, getting out to a 10-2 advantage after three kills by Blankespoor and a kill and block by Van Ginkel. Consecutive ace serves by Sadie Finnegan put Doane within five moments later but following another kill by Blankespoor, the Red Raiders went on a 9-5 run to take control and win the final set. Van Den Bosch's squad hit a match-best .448, totaling 14 kills against one error, in the third set.

By the Numbers...

Northwestern hit .330 for the match and held the advantage in blocking (9-1) and aces (8-7)

Hilger has now hit for double figures in 17 matches

Blankespoor has hit for 10+ kills in three straight and four overall matches this season

Van Ginkel (5), Horstman (4) and Makenzie Fink (4) led the Red Raiders in blocking; both Van Ginkel and Horstman are among the top 10 in the GPAC in blocking

Strasser totaled 10+ digs for the 12th match this season

Genna Ryan-Piasecki led Doane with six kills in 10 attempts; Alexis Dale, Madison Van Housen and Allison Kuehle all totaled four kills