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volleyball-naia-poolplay-sau-recap-2023
1
St. Ambrose SAU 20-15
3
Winner Northwestern NWC 28-2
St. Ambrose SAU
20-15
1
Final
3
Northwestern NWC
28-2
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
St. Ambrose SAU 15 22 26 19 (1)
Northwestern NWC 25 25 24 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | NWC Athletic Communications

Volleyball Opens NAIA Pool Play with a Four Set Victory Over St. Ambrose

The Red Raiders recorded eight service aces in the Pool Play victory

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The No. 1-ranked Northwestern College volleyball team (28-2, 14-2 GPAC) started off Pool Play at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Final Site with a four-set win over the fighting Bees of St. Ambrose University (20-15, 10-4 CCAC) Wednesday morning inside the Tyson Events Center.
 
"Good team win to start pool play at the national tournament," noted head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch. "I thought offensively we were really good. The blocking and digging really kept us in it."  
The block started early in the match for the Red Raiders as Zavyr Metzger (So., Larchwood, Iowa) and Savonne Sterk (Jr., Lynden, Wash.) combined for a block on the first rally of the day. The block would spark a 7-2 run for Northwestern to start the contest, as Metzger picked up three early kills from her middle hitter position. The Bees would fight back to pull within one, 7-6 before a Jazlin De Haan (Jr., Orange City, Iowa) stopped the SAU momentum. Later in the set, NWC would hold a 15-10 advantage. St. Ambrose would make small pushes in the set, but the Red Raiders would apply pressure from the service line and big swings to take the opening set, 25-15.
 
The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) tournament champions would show a bit of fight after the teams switched sides of the net. Facing a 14-11 deficit, Van Den Bosch would use a time out. Out of the break, Macay Van't Hul (Jr., Rock Valley, Iowa) would propel the Raiders right back into it with a kill and a block to make it 14-13 SAU. It would spark a 4-0 spurt by Northwestern with Olivia Granstra (Jr., Sheldon, Iowa) would record back-to-back service aces as NWC took the 17-15 lead and forced a St. Ambrose time out. The blocks would come on late in the set, as Sterk and Metzger continued to patrol the net. Riding the momentum gained from Van Den Bosch's time out earlier in the set, the Red Raiders would clinch the second set, 25-22 and take the 2-0 match lead thanks to a set-sealing kill from De Haan.  
The Fighting Bees would jump out to an early 7-3 lead in the third set, forcing the Red Raiders to talk it over. Out of the time out, a Metzger kill would ignite the offense. Northwestern would come back to knot it up at 9-9 but the Fighting Bees refused to go down without a fight. SAU would rebuild a four-point advantage (14-10) as Northwestern would use their second time out of the set. St. Ambrose would continue to hold the advantage throughout the set, but Northwestern, trailing by four late at 21-17, would rattle off three-straight points to force a SAU time out. The Fighting Bees held onto a slim 21-20 lead out of the break and the run would continue. Alysen Dexter (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa) would give Northwestern their first lead of the set since it was 3-1 with a big kill, making it 23-22. The Red Raiders would battle, but the Fighting Bees would continue to play scrappy and prevail 26-24 to force at least one more set.
 
Not to be deterred, the Red Raiders jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the fourth set, as Sterk tallied a pair of kills to start the set. Leading 11-7 early on, the Fighting Bees would pull within one (11-10) and they would eventually claw back to knot it up at 12-12. Momentum fully swung in favor of the Red Raiders with a massive solo block from De Haan to give NWC the 18-15 lead later in the set. Northwestern would lead 23-17 and kills from Dexter and Sterk would put the match away and Northwestern would win 3-1 after a 25-19 set four victory.  
MATCH NOTES:
  • Jazlin De Haan recorded her 16th double-double of the season (12 K, 10 D).
  • NWC hit .278 and held SAU to just a .186 mark.
  • Northwestern recorded 12 blocks as a team in the win this morning, picking up their 23rd double-digit blocking match of the season.
  • The NAIA-blocking leader Zavyr Metzger led the match with her eight blocks.
  • Savonne Sterk added six blocks and Macay Van't Hul had three.
  • Alysen Dexter paced the team with her 16 kills on a .300 hitting percentage.
  • De Haan and Sterk both also added double-digit kills with 12 and 10, respectively.
  • Both Red Raider setters notched 20+ assists as Logan Miller had 22 and Liv Reitsma had 21.  
  • Olivia Granstra had a match-high 22 digs for the Red Raiders.
  • Granstra led the team with her three service aces, as the Red Raiders put down eight as a team
  • The Red Raiders played in just their third four set match of the season, improving to 3-1 in four-set matches.
  • Northwestern improves to 15-2 all-time against St. Ambrose, and head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch improves to 3-0.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Savonne Sterk
Up Next: Northwestern will play their second NAIA Pool Play match against Bellevue (Neb.) on Friday, December 2 at 10:00 a.m. from the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City for a chance to advance to the NAIA Quarterfinals on Saturday.

Don't forget to follow Northwestern College Athletics on Facebook @nwcraiders, Twitter @nwcraiders, and Instagram @nwcraiders! #RaidersStandOut
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