Northwestern College Athletics

 MITCHELL, S.D. — Northwestern (24-1, 14-0) defeated Dakota Wesleyan (SD) (17-9, 6-8) 3-0 on Wednesday, winning 25-15, 25-16, 25-21. The Raiders hit .306 with 47 kills while holding Dakota Wesleyan (SD) to a .111 hitting percentage and 28 kills.
 
Dakota Wesleyan (SD) opened a 4-1 lead and was still in front 5-4 before Halie Kapelke's kill from Nyah Potthoff tied the first set at 5-5. Stella Winterfeld then served the Raiders through a 12-point stretch that included three service aces, kills by Potthoff, Kapelke and Jadyn Hofmeyer, and two assisted blocks as the Raiders moved ahead 17-5. Dakota Wesleyan (SD) cut into the margin at 18-12, but the Raiders answered with a run to 23-12 behind two Dakota Wesleyan (SD) attack errors and back-to-back Hofmeyer kills. After reaching set point on another Hofmeyer kill, the Raiders closed the set 25-15 on Maddy Sampson's kill from Potthoff.
 
The Raiders opened the second set with three straight Winterfeld kills, two assisted by Potthoff and one by Tierney Huss, and pushed ahead 9-3 after Dakota Wesleyan (SD) cut the margin to 3-2. The lead reached 12-4 on a Hofmeyer kill and a Dakota Wesleyan (SD) attack error, but Dakota Wesleyan (SD) answered with three straight Emma Hergenreder kills to pull within 12-7. Maddy Sampson kept the Raiders in front with three kills as the set moved to 15-9, and a block by Aubrey De Groot and Halie Kapelke followed by a Kapelke kill helped the Raiders build a 17-10 lead. The Raiders moved to 24-14 behind a Maggie Bloom ace, kills from Hofmeyer, Kapelke, Sidney Oostra and Winterfeld, and Winterfeld added the final kill to close a 25-16 set win.
 
In the third set, the Raiders opened with two Winterfeld kills from Potthoff around a Madi Nemmers ace for a 3-0 lead, and after Dakota Wesleyan (SD) closed within 6-5, Winterfeld answered with another kill. Back-to-back blocks by Kapelke and Sampson, then Sampson and Hofmeyer, pushed the Raiders ahead 10-6, and kills from Kapelke, Sampson, Hofmeyer and Winterfeld helped the visitors build the margin to 16-10. The Raiders later led 21-13 on a Hofmeyer kill from Potthoff, but Dakota Wesleyan (SD) scored five straight points, capped by a Presly Pastian ace, to cut the score to 21-18. The Raiders kept the lead through the closing stretch, getting kills from Kapelke, Sampson and Winterfeld, with Winterfeld's final swing from Potthoff finishing a 25-21 set win.
 
Game Notes:

• Jadyn Hofmeyer hit .458 with 13 kills.
• Sidney Oostra led the team with 15 digs.
• Halie Kapelke had 9 kills and 4 blocks.
• Stella Winterfeld led the team with 14 kills.

Up Next: Northwestern heads to Mount Marty on Saturday, October 31 at 1:30 PM.