Game Time...Northwestern College begins its 2020 volleyball season with a match against the University of Northwestern (Minn.) held Saturday, Sept. 5 at Dordt University. First serve in Sioux Center is slated for 4pm. (note: the Raiders were also scheduled to play Peru State earlier in the day...that match if now canceled). Both teams are making their season debut. 

    Follow the match via:  Live Stats | Video

   Only parents / family members of the players will be allowed on-site per Dordt's CoVID guidelines for the weekend.

All-Time... Saturday's match will be the first ever between the two teams.

Scouting University of Northwestern...  0-0                Head Coach: Beth Wilmeth (17th year)

Located in St. Paul, Minn., the Eagles are one of the elite volleyball programs in NCAA D-II, reaching the postseason in nine of the last 10 years. They have won nine straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season titles and also won the postseason championship in 2019. Following an upset win over St.Olaf in the first round of the D-III regional, the Eagles had their season come to an end against St.Ben's in the semifinals to finish with a 25-9 record. 

University of Northwestern and all of NCAA D-III moved its conference and postseason play to the spring; the Eagles have 13 matches scheduled for the fall, many against teams from the GPAC.

Beth Wilmeth begins her 17th season as the head of the Eagles volleyball program, owning the most wins (380) since being hired for the 2004 season. She has led U. of Northwestern to 12 UMAC titles and was awarded both the regional and national coach of the year honors in 2016. Wilmeth returns six starters, 12 players, from last year's team.

    By the Numbers (2019 stats)
    Hitting Percentage: .227
    Kills / Set - 13.2
    Aces - 220
    Blocks / Set - 1.6
    Digs / Set - 17.6

    Individual Leaders (postseason honors)
    Sydney Schwitters - 2x All-American, UMAC Player of Year; 10.2 a/set, 2.5 d/set
    Marylyn Schroyer - 1st team all-conf, 5.7 d/set, 14 aces
    Kalley Schwitters - 2nd team all-conf, 3 k/set, .206%, 42 aces, 3.3 d/set, 41 blocks
    Kendra Hardy - HM all-conf, 2.5 k/set, .231%, 69 blocks
    
Northwestern Notes...

Northwestern finished the 2019 season with a 32-2 overall record and a No.6 ranking in the NAIA postseason poll. The Raiders qualified for their third consecutive NAIA Championship where they won pool B and advanced to the quarterfinal before losing to the University of Jamestown.They went a perfect 16-0 in conference play to win their sixth GPAC regular season title and climbed all the way to a No.1 ranking after winning their first 28 matches of the season. 

Kyle Van Den Bosch is set to begin his 16th year as the head of the Raider volleyball program, owning a 429 - 120 record for an 81% win percentage. Van Den Bosch was named the GPAC Coach of the Year in 2019, the seventh time he claimed the postseason honor. He returns nine starters, 14 players from last year's team.

By The Numbers: (GPAC rank)
    Hitting Percentage: .303 (1st)
    Kills / Set - 12.9 (1st)
    Aces - 198 (1st)
    Blocks / Set - 2.4 (5th)
    Digs / Set - 15.1 (8th)

    Individual Leaders (Conf.rank / NAIA rank-if top 10):
    Anna Wedel - NAIA Player of the Year: 4.4 k/set (2nd), .345% (1st), 14 aces, 2.7 digs, 55 blocks
    Lacey Reitz (2x All-American): 12a/set (1st), 47 aces (2nd), 2.2 digs, 56 blocks
    Makenzie Fink (All-American): 3.1 k/set (6th), .316% (5th), 73 blocks 
    A.J. Kacmarynski (All-American): 2.5 k/set, .22%, 46 blocks
    Bekah Horstman (2x all-conf) 2.1 k/set, .386%, 132 blocks
    Emily Van Ginkel (2x all-conf) 1.7 k/set, .292%, 134 blocks
    Emily Strasser (2x all-conf) 36 aces, 4.4 digs/set (6th)
    Bri Kleinwolterink - 1.3 digs/set
    Jadeyn Schutt - 29 aces