Northwestern College Athletics

Orange City, Iowa — Northwestern defeated Viterbo 3-1 on Tuesday, winning 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20. The Raiders finished with 52 kills and a .214 hitting percentage while holding the V-Hawks to .076.
 
The V-Hawks built a 9-5 lead in the opening set before the Raiders drew even at 9-9 behind a Maggie Bloom service ace, a Halie Kapelke-Maddy Sampson block and two V-Hawks attack errors. After the V-Hawks went back in front 10-9, Kapelke tied it with a kill and Sampson put the Raiders ahead 11-10. The set was tied again at 14-14 before Stella Winterfeld and Kapelke had kills during a Raiders push to 17-14. The V-Hawks came back to tie the set at 19-19 with consecutive service aces, moved ahead 22-20 on back-to-back Izzy Jahr kills and, after the Raiders cut it to 22-21, took the final three points to win the set 25-21.
 
The Raiders took the first two points on V-Hawks attack errors, including a block by Aubrey De Groot and Winterfeld, and after the V-Hawks pulled even at 3-3, Nyah Potthoff's kill, Kapelke's block and Winterfeld's ace moved the Raiders ahead 6-3. The lead reached 10-6 after an Izzy Jahr attack error and a Casey Frankland attack error blocked by Aubree Shields and Sampson, but the V-Hawks came back within 14-12 on a Raiders service error, Ava Schmidt's ace and a Hailee Halverson kill. The Raiders pushed the margin back out with kills from Potthoff and Winterfeld around V-Hawks errors to make it 19-13, then added late kills from Jadyn Hofmeyer and Kapelke and a Potthoff-Sampson block for a 23-15 lead. Winterfeld accounted for the Raiders' final two points with kills, closing the set at 25-18.
 
Winterfeld opened the third set with consecutive kills for the Raiders, but the V-Hawks answered and built an 11-6 lead by the time the Raiders called timeout. After the V-Hawks later led 14-9, the Raiders scored three straight on a V-Hawks attack error, an Aubrey De Groot kill and another V-Hawks error, then pulled even at 15-15 and moved ahead 17-16 on a block by De Groot and Hofmeyer. The teams stayed close from there, with kills by Hofmeyer and Kapelke helping the Raiders carry a 21-20 edge into the final stretch. Winterfeld's kill and two V-Hawks attack errors pushed the Raiders to set point, and after the V-Hawks fought off set point, Winterfeld finished the 25-21 set win with a kill from Potthoff.
 
The Raiders won eight of the first 12 points in the fourth set, with Winterfeld putting down three early kills and the front line adding blocks involving Aubrey De Groot, Potthoff, Sampson and Hofmeyer for an 8-4 lead. The V-Hawks were within 13-9 before the Raiders created separation with kills from Kapelke and Sampson, another Kapelke kill, Anni Wedgbury's service ace and a V-Hawks attack error to move ahead 19-10. The V-Hawks worked back to 20-15, but the Raiders answered with a Winterfeld block and a Winterfeld kill to reach 22-15, and De Groot's kill later put the Raiders at set point, 24-18. The Raiders finished the fourth set at 25-20.
Game Notes:

• Nyah Potthoff played a dynamic game with 42 assists, 4 kills, 8 digs and 2 blocks.
• Halie Kapelke had 12 kills, posting a .524 hitting percentage.
• Stella Winterfeld had another stellar game 20 kills and 8 digs.  

 
Up Next: Northwestern is set to play host to the Waldorf Warriors on Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 PM in the Bultman Center.