Northwestern College opened the 2020 volleyball season with a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) over NCAA D-III powerhouse University of Northwestern - St.Paul in a match played on a neutral floor in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Senior and returning All-American
Makenzie Fink hit .526 and put down a match-high 11 kills to lead the Raider offense.
Emily Van Ginkel added eight kills, followed by 2019 NAIA Player of the Year
Anna Wedel with seven.
Gallery: (9-5-2020) Volleyball vs U. of Northwestern
Set One: 25-23
18 ties and seven lead changes highlighted a competitive first set where Northwestern held the largest lead, 20-17 following a successful attack by Fink and a hitting miscue by the Eagles. University of Northwestern rallied, scoring five of the next six points to take a 22-21 advantage. Tied at 23,
Bekah Horstman put the Raiders up for good with a kill and an ace serve by
A.J. Kacmarynski on set point clinched the first set win, 25-23, for Head Coach
Kyle Van Den Bosch's squad.
Set Two: 25-18
An early 8-2 run kept the momentum in the Raiders favor as they raced out to a 12-6 lead on an ace from
Jadeyn Schutt. Northwestern maintained at least a three-point lead the rest of the way, holding the Eagles to five kills, five errors in 31 attacks for a 2-0 set lead.
Set Three: 25-23
Northwestern faced its largest deficit in set three, falling behind 4-0 and later by a 12-7 score. Still down by four, the Raiders used a 10-3 to sway the momentum back in their favor, getting kills by four different players (Fink, Van Ginkel,
Lacey Reitz and Horstman). Van Den Bosch's squad secured the match with the final three points on an Eagles error, a kill from Kacmarynski and an ace by Fink. Both teams hit their best (Raiders - .367; Eagles - .172) in the final set.
Northwestern hit .330 for the match, compared to .092 by the Eagles; Kacmarynski and Horstman totaled six and five kills, respectively. All five Raider hitters had at least five kills. Reitz put up 31 assists and totaled eight digs.
Olivia Granstra led all players with 11 digs.
The Eagles were led by Kendra Hardy with nine kills and Kalley Schwitters put down six kills.
