No.7 Northwestern picked up two more wins on the final day of the Viterbo Holiday Inn Express Classic played today in LaCrosse, Wis. The Red Raiders defeated Taylor (Ind.) in four sets, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-19 in the morning and came back with a sweep over No.5 Viterbo, 25-18, 25-20, 25-20.
This marked the Red Raiders first win over Viterbo in program history and was the third win against a ranked opponent this season. Coach Van Den Bosch's squad pushes their record to 12-0.
Makenzie Fink paced Northwestern with 11 kills in 24 attempts, hitting 29% against the highly ranked V-Hawks.
Anna Wedel put down 10 kills and totaled nine digs while
Emily Van Ginkel (7 kills, 2 blocks) and
Bekah Horstman (6 kills) were the other hitting leaders.
Northwestern never trailed in its 25-18, first set win. The Red Raiders hit 23%, compared to 4% by Viterbo, and broke a 10-10 tie with a 7-3 run, headed by Fink and Van Ginkel.
The Red Raiders came out firing in set two, storming out to an 11-5 lead, until Viterbo answered with its own 11-5 run to tie the set at 16. Knotted at 18, a kill by Horstman and an error by the hosts put Northwestern in front for good as they won 25-20.
Viterbo's only lead of the match came early in the final set but was quickly erased by an 8-3 Northwestern surge finished off with a kill from Wedel. The Red Raiders maintained a 3-5 point lead for the duration of the set, winning match point off an ace by
Emily Strasser.
Northwestern had the stats advantage in hitting percentage (29% - 8%) and blocks (5-2).
Lacey Wacker put up 31 assists and Strasser tallied 14 digs.
The Red Raiders totaled a season-high 15 blocks in their four-set win against Taylor earlier in the day. Van Ginkel eight kills and accounted for 10 blocks (1 solo, 9 assisted) to lead Van Den Bosch's squad. Wedel had a double-double with 15 kills and a career-best 17 digs, followed by Fink with 12 kills and 3.5 blocks.
Northwestern hit 19% compared to 3% by Taylor and had a higher attack percentage in its three set wins. Wacker directed Van Den Bosch's offense with 44 assists and Strasser provided strong backrow play with 15 digs.
