Game Time... Conference play begins Wednesday night as the seventh-ranked Red Raiders travel to Mitchell, S.D. to play Dakota Wesleyan in the GPAC opener for both teams. First serve at the Corn Palace is scheduled for 7:30pm. Both teams are unbeaten; Northwestern at 7-0 and the host Tigers are 8-0 on the year. 

    Listen to the match via Sioux County radio at this link: Listen Now!  

    Watch the match / follow the stats, at this link (provided by DWU): Watch Now! 

All-Time...Northwestern owns a 35-1 advantage in the series, dating back to the 1990 season. 

Scouting Reports...

    Dakota Wesleyan Tigers: 8-0 overall        Head Coach: Lindsay Wilber (6th year)

DWU is one of three GPAC teams still unbeaten on the year, joining both Concordia and Northwestern. The Tigers own an 8-0 record, are 24-4 in sets played and have a win over a team recognized in the NAIA preseason poll, defeating Madonna (Mich.). They have one common opponent with Northwestern, earning a 3-2 win over William Penn. 

Wilber has been the head of the Tigers volleyball program since 2014 and has guided DWU to a pair of winning seasons in her five previous years. Now in her sixth season, Wilber returns five starters and nine players from a 2018 team that went 5-11 in the GPAC (T7th), 17-14 overall. They were picked ninth out of 12 teams in the GPAC preseason poll. 

    By the Numbers (Team)
    12.2 kills / set
    .285 hitting % (5th in NAIA)
    53 aces
    14.8 digs / set
    2.3 blocks / set

    Individual Leaders:
    Rebecca Frick (2x All-GPAC) - 3.9 kills/set, .290%, 2.6 digs/set, 9 blocks
    Jadie DeLange (transfer from BHSU) - 2.1 kills/set, .237%, 11 blocks
    Emily Brunsing (All-GPAC) - 2 kills/set, .314%, 22 blocks
    Brittany Berquist - 1.7 kills/set, .318%, 29 blocks
    Bridgett Knobbe - 9.5 assists/set, 12 aces

Northwestern Notes...The Red Raiders won all three matches at the GoSarpy.com Invite held last weekend in Bellevue, Neb. They defeated both #3 Grand View and York in four sets and then swept Evangel in their final match. Northwestern improved to 7-0 on the season and own two wins over ranked teams; Corban and Grand View. 

    By the Numbers (Team)
    14.9 kills / set (2nd in NAIA)
    .331 hitting % (1st in NAIA)
    59 aces
    13.3 digs / set
    1.5 blocks / set

    Individual Leaders:
    Anna Wedel - 4.1 kills/set, .309%, 2 digs/set, 5 blocks; 7 matches w/ 10+ kills
    Makenzie Fink - 3.1 kills/set, .344%, 9 blocks; 5 matches w/ 10+ kills
    A.J.Kacmarynski - 3 kills/set, .286%; 3 matches w/ 10+ kills
    Bekah Horstman - 2.5 kills/set, .495%, 21 blocks; 4 matches w/ 10+ kills
    Emily Van Ginkel - 1.4 kills/set, .264%, 14 blocks
    Lacey Wacker - 12.4 assists/set (4th), 14 aces, 1.9 digs/set
    Emily Strasser - 16 aces, 3.9 digs/set; 5 matches w/ 10+ digs

Up Next...Northwestern travels to LaCrosse, Wis. to play in the Holiday Inn Express Classic, a tournament hosted by Viterbo, this weekend. They will play four matches during the two-day Classic, beginning with William Woods (Mo.) on Friday afternoon.