Northwestern College Athletics

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Northwestern (22-1, 12-0) defeated Morningside (20-6, 9-4) 3-1 on Wednesday. The Red Raiders finished with a 62-50 advantage in kills and hit .240 to the Mustangs' .195.
 
The Raiders built an 8-4 lead in the opening set with kills from Maddy Sampson, Stella Winterfeld and Aubrey De Groot, plus a Maggie Bloom service ace. The Mustangs later pulled within 11-10 behind a Kyla Dyrstad ace and a block by Liv Odvody and Sidda Hagedorn, before Winterfeld answered with a kill for a 12-10 Red Raiders lead. The Raiders pushed the margin to 15-11 on a De Groot kill, a Mustangs bad set and a block by De Groot and Winterfeld, then kept the lead at 18-14 after a Mustangs service error. The Mustangs got back within 19-17, but the Red Raiders took six of the final eight points, with kills by Winterfeld, De Groot and Halie Kapelke and a De Groot-Jadyn Hofmeyer block closing a 25-19 set win.
 
The Red Raiders moved in front 7-4 in the second set behind three early kills from Kapelke and a service ace from Madi Nemmers, but the Mustangs scored the next four points to take an 8-7 lead and later went ahead 10-8 on Kyla Dyrstad's ace. Hofmeyer and Winterfeld helped the Raiders pull even at 10-10, and after Sidda Hagedorn's kill put the Mustangs back in front, Winterfeld's kill, Sidney Oostra's ace and a Mustangs attack error gave the Red Raiders a 13-11 edge. The teams traded points through the middle of the set, with the Raiders answering a 19-17 deficit on a Sampson kill and consecutive Hofmeyer kills before the Mustangs went back ahead 21-20. After a Red Raiders timeout, Hofmeyer tied it, Nemmers added an ace during a three-point push to 23-21, and Winterfeld put away the final two Raiders kills to finish a 25-23 win.
 
With the third set tied 3-3, Nyah Potthoff served four straight Red Raiders points, including an ace, two Winterfeld kills and an Aubrey De Groot-Winterfeld block that put the Raiders ahead 7-3. The Mustangs answered to tie the set at 7-7, and after the Red Raiders moved back in front 9-7, the Mustangs used kills by Victoria Bouska and Malia Fichtl to move ahead 11-9. The Raiders stayed within 13-12 on a Sampson kill, but the Mustangs scored the next four points to build a 17-12 lead and later stretched the margin to 23-16. Kapelke, Sidney Oostra, Winterfeld and Sampson had late kills as the Red Raiders cut the deficit to 24-21, but a service error closed the Mustangs' 25-21 set win.
 
After the teams split the first two points, the Red Raiders won seven of the next eight rallies to build an 8-2 lead, with Winterfeld, Aubrey De Groot and Kapelke recording kills and De Groot combining on two blocks. The Mustangs answered from 10-4 with four straight points to get within 10-8, but Hofmeyer stopped the run with a kill and the Raiders pushed the margin back to 13-8 on a Mustangs attack error and a Winterfeld kill. The Red Raiders remained in front through the middle of the set, using kills from Hofmeyer and Winterfeld and a Potthoff service ace to move ahead 21-11 before the Mustangs trimmed the score to 23-16. Winterfeld's kill made it 24-16, and after the Mustangs scored four straight, Kapelke closed the set with a kill from Potthoff for a 25-20 Red Raiders win.
 
Game Notes:

• Stella Winterfeld played an all-around great match with 28 kills, 15 digs and 5 blocks.
• Nyah Potthoff had 54 assists across the four sets.
• Sidney Oostra led the team with 22 digs.

 
Up Next: The Raiders return to the Bultman Center on Saturday for a three o'clock matchup with Briar Cliff.