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Women's Volleyball NWC Athletic Communications

Northwestern Welcomes Midland for GPAC Semifinals on Wednesday

Red Raiders look to make their first trip to the GPAC Championship match since 2020

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – After a grueling Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) 16-match regular season schedule with five teams consistently ranked inside the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) top-25, it comes down to the final four teams left standing in the 2023 GPAC Volleyball tournament. The No. 1-ranked and seed Northwestern College volleyball team (24-2, 14-2 GPAC) is set to play host to the No. 18-ranked and No. 4-seed Midland Warriors (15-10, 10-6 GPAC) on Wednesday night (November 8) for the semifinals match inside the Bultman Center.
 
WEDNESDAY'S THEME WILL BE A BLACK OUT INSIDE THE BULTMAN CENTER

HOW THEY GOT HERE
Northwestern picked up their 22nd sweep of the season in the GPAC Quarterfinals over Doane, the second sweep of the season over the Tigers. Jazlin De Haan (Jr., Orange City, Iowa) notched her 13th double-double of the season leading the match in kills (18) and tied for the match-high with 13 digs. The Red Raiders hit at a clip of .270 on the match.
Midland enters after a 3-0 victory in Fremont, Nebraska over No. 5-seed College of Saint Mary on Saturday. The Warriors prevailed in all three regular season meetings against the Flames this season. Notching 17 team blocks in the match moved Midland north of three blocks per set on the season (3.01). Midland is currently ranked No. 18 in the NAIA and is the No. 4-seed in the GPAC tournament.

REGULAR SEASON MEETING
September 23 | NWC 3, Midland 0 | Fremont, Neb.

Northwestern swept Midland in the lone regular season clash of the season back on September 23 in Fremont. It was a block party for the Red Raiders then, as Macay Van't Hul (Jr., Rock Valley, Iowa) tied the program's single-match record with her 13 blocks in the victory. De Haan and Alysen Dexter (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa) both notched double digit kills with 13 and 12, respectively. The Raider defense, with the help of the blocks, held Midland to just a .094 hitting percentage.

NORTHWESTERN NOTABLES
  • NWC leads the NAIA in blocks per set as a team (3.45), while Zavyr Metzger leads all NAIA individuals with her 1.95 blocks per set mark.
  • Metzger continues to lead all four-year collegiate volleyball divisions (NCAA DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, NCCAA DI, DII) in blocks per set.
  • October was a phenomenal month for the Red Raiders, as they blocked at an impressive clip of 3.74 blocks per set; the highest of the three full months of the season (Aug., 2.80; Sept., 3.62).
  • NWC looks for their 10th home win of the year on Wednesday.
  • The Red Raiders completed two undefeated months this season: August (5-0) and October (8-0).
  • NWC enters the GPAC semifinals winners of 10-straight matches.
  • NWC's 22 sweeps sits fifth in program history.
  • The Red Raiders sit second in the GPAC in hitting percentage (.237).
  • Jazlin De Haan now leads the GPAC and third in the NAIA in kills per set (4.72).
  • Olivia Granstra moves up to second in the league in digs/set at 5.61.
  • Alysen Dexter leads the GPAC in service aces (49) and sits T10th in the NAIA in aces per set (0.58).
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
  • Midland enters after their third win over CSM on the season with a 3-0 sweep in Fremont in the Quarterfinals.
  • The Warriors are second in both the GPAC and NAIA in blocks per set (3.01), the only two teams to average 3+ blocks per set.
  • Midland had 17 team blocks in the win over the Flames, led by the team's leading-blocker Lauren Samuelson who had 13.
  • Samuelson sits fourth in the NAIA in blocks per set (1.41), followed by Abbey Ringler who sits right behind in fifth (1.40).
  • A trio of Warriors sit north of 2 kills per set, led by junior MH Abbey Ringler who had a team-high 236 kills (2.62/set); sophomore RS Lauren Williams is the other Warrior over 200 kills on the year (219).
RED RAIDERS IN THE GPAC TOURNAMENT
  • Since the GPAC became the GPAC (2000-01 season), NWC has earned a berth to the conference tournament in every season.
  • 2023 marks the 24th-straight GPAC tournament berth.
  • Since 2005 (under VDB), NWC holds a 24-15 record in the GPAC tournament (including Saturday's win over Doane).
  • Van Den Bosch has led NWC to three tournament titles: 2009, 2010, 2014.
TICKET INFORMATION
Admission will be charged for admission into the Bultman Center. There is not an advance ticketing option, all tickets are sold at the gate.

Adults will be charged $10, K-College students will be charged $3, and children under the Kindergarten age will have no charge. All GPAC students will receive free admittance to the matches with the showing of their institutional ID. All faculty and staff at GPAC schools will be required to pay for entry, per the conference office.

Only NAIA passes will be accepted at the gate, no institutional passes will be accepted for the entirety of the conference tournament.

GPAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals – Saturday, November 4
No. 1-seed Northwestern (3) vs. No. 8-seed Doane (0)
No. 4-seed Midland (3) vs. No. 5-seed College of Saint Mary (1)
No. 3-seed Jamestown (3) vs. No. 6-seed Morningside (0)
No. 2-seed Concordia (Neb.) (3) vs. No. 7-seed Dakota Wesleyan (0)

Semifinals – Wednesday, November 8
No. 1-seed Northwestern vs. No. 4-seed Midland (7:00 PM, Orange City, Iowa)
No. 2-seed Concordia vs. No. 3-seed Jamestown (7:00 PM, Seward, Neb.)

Championship – Saturday, November 11
Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed

GAME INFORMATION
Saturday's match will be held inside the Bultman Center on the campus of Northwestern College. For live stream, match notes, and live stats, visit nwcraiders.com or navigate to the links above.

The winner of the match will go on to face the winner of No. 3 Jamestown and No. 2 Concordia (Neb.) in the Championship match of the 2023 GPAC Tournament. If Northwestern is in the championship match, the opponent – regardless of result – will earn the league's second automatic bid to the NAIA tournament.

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

Jazlin Douma

#13 Jazlin Douma

OH
5' 11"
Junior
Alysen Dexter

#11 Alysen Dexter

OH
6' 0"
Junior
Olivia Granstra

#4 Olivia Granstra

DS
5' 7"
Junior
Zavyr Metzger

#10 Zavyr Metzger

MH
6' 1"
Sophomore
Macay Van

#14 Macay Van't Hul

MH
6' 1"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jazlin Douma

#13 Jazlin Douma

5' 11"
Junior
OH
Alysen Dexter

#11 Alysen Dexter

6' 0"
Junior
OH
Olivia Granstra

#4 Olivia Granstra

5' 7"
Junior
DS
Zavyr Metzger

#10 Zavyr Metzger

6' 1"
Sophomore
MH
Macay Van

#14 Macay Van't Hul

6' 1"
Junior
MH