Volleyball Set to Host Philander Smith (Ark.) for @NAIA Opening Round.

📰: https://t.co/EA89zN6DIW#RaidersStandOut | @NWCVolleyball pic.twitter.com/4NjU9s70co

— NWC Red Raiders (@nwcraiders) November 14, 2022

• Northwestern is making their sixth-straight trip to the NAIA national tournament in 2022.
• For the third-straight season, in the new format, the Red Raiders are hosting Opening Round match (winning the first two in straight sets).
• Regardless of Saturday's results, it will be the final home match inside the Bultman Center for the 2022 season.
• NWC sits third in the GPAC in total blocks (247) and second in the NAIA in blocks per set (2.52).
• Senior Bekah Horstman leads the Raiders this season with 127 total blocks, and she sits third in program history in the category (575).
• Horstman also LEADS the GPAC and is THIRD nationally in blocks per set (1.34).

• Three Red Raiders have 250+ kills on the season, making it a very balanced attack and hard for opponents to game plan around.
• Both Jazlin De Haan (351) and Alysen Dexter (345) have notched 300+ kills.
• As a team, the Red Raiders are hitting at a clip of .235 on the season, while notching 13.3 kills per set.

• NWC is making their 18^th all-time appearance in the NAIA tournament, and 12^th under head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch.
• This season marks the sixth-straight appearance.
• The Raiders have made three-straight trips to the NAIA Quarterfinals in Sioux City, and six under VDB.
• The seniors, normal or 5^th-years, have never not made it to the NAIA tournament in their time at NWC.
• The senior class (2019+) holds a 10-3 (.769) mark in national tournament play.
• The Covid seniors – Bekah Horstman and Emily Strasser – hold a 12-5 (.706) record in the national tournament.

Six Raiders Tabbed All-Conference (@GPACSports) Performers.

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— NWC Red Raiders (@nwcraiders) November 15, 2022

• The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) announced their 2022 All-Conference volleyball teams this past Tuesday (November 15).
• The Red Raiders had six athletes named All-Conference in some capacity, including three First Team honorees.
• You can read more about the All-Conference performers at the link above.

• This is the first-ever meeting between Northwestern and Philander Smith College.

• Philander Smith College (PSC) hails out of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), finishing second in the regular season with a 9-3 record in the league.
• The Panthers knocked off top-seeded Dillard University in the GCAC Championship match in four sets to earn the automatic bid to the NAIA tournament, the first in program history.
• PSC is led by first-year collegiate head coach Kayla Black, who played her college volleyball at Xavier University of Louisiana.
• Only Jordan Johnson has gone over 200 kills this season for the Panthers (264), but five others have 100+ kills to their name.
• Johnson also leads the team in blocks (104) and is the only Panther to average 1.0+ blocks per set (1.06).

• Philander Smith College is a private four-year institution located in Little Rock, Ark., founded in 1877.
• The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

• Ticket prices, set by the NAIA, are $8 per adult and $5 for K-College students.
• Thanks to generous sponsors, NWC students can enter FREE with the showing of their student IDs.
• All tickets are sold at the gate at the Bultman Center.
• The only passes that work are the NAIA passes (must be 2022-23).