Game Time... The Northwestern College volleyball team will resume play after a week off to compete in the Hastings Tournament this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14-15. The Red Raiders are 7-4 overall and are ranked 24th in this week's NAIA rating. They will play four matches during the two days, beginning on Friday at noon against Park University (Mo.). Northwestern will then play #25 University of Texas-Brownsville at 6:00 pm followed by a pair of games on Saturday, Central Methodist (Mo.) at 9:00 am and #4 National American at 1:00 pm.
Scouting Report... Park University will be the second straight NWC opponent from the MCAC Conference as the Red Raiders downed Bellevue last weekend, 3-0. The Pirates are 7-1 overall, 1-0 in the conference and received votes in the last top 25 NAIA poll. They are led by 6-3 senior Aigline Yoke (Paris, France) averaging 4.1 kills and 1.0 blocks per game. Last week, she was the MCAC and regional player-of-the-week. Gabiela Carvalho (Sao Paulo, Brazil), a 5'7 setter, is averaging 10 assists and 2.7 digs per contest. Like Yoke, she earned both regional and conference honors for her play last week. Lavinia Vaitai and Allison Block average 3.1 and 1.8 kills per game respectively. Park has a perfect 6-0 record during the month of September and defeated Central Christian College 3-0 in their last match.
Texas Brownsville is 9-3 overall in 2007 with two wins over Texas Wesleyan, an regular at the NAIA national tournament. They are ranked 25th in this week's NAIA poll. UTB began the season 0-2 but have won eight of their last nine matches leading into the tournament. Talita Milasauskas leads the team with 4.2 kills per game and was the Red River Athletic Conference player-of-the-week for the second straight week. The 6-2 freshman middle hitter is also averaging 1.5 blocks per game.
Central Methodist and first-year head coach Mike Jackson are 5-3 overall, 2-1 in the HAAC Conference. Last time out, the Lady Eagles lost in five games to conference foe William Jewell. Sisters Violah and Rael Rotich both recorded 14 kills to lead CMU. Michelle Wilson posted 36 assists in the loss. On the season, Rael Rotich leads the Lady Eagles with 83 kills (3.46 kpg) and Violah has a team-high 29 blocks to go with her 2.9 kills per game.
Defending champion National American is 8-3 overall but had their seven-match win streak snapped last time out by Dickinson State, 3-1. The Mavericks were undefeated in 2006 (41-0) and return junior outside hitter Daniela Oliveira who earned NAIA 1st team All-American honors last season.
Red Raider Notes... Northwestern defeated #22 Bellevue (Neb.) last time out, 3-0, on Sept. 8. It was the third ranked opponent that NWC has faced already in the young 2007 season. Bobbie jean Rich and Hillary Hanno recorded 12 and 11 kills, respectively to help propel NWC to the win. Both players, along with senior Megan Meyer, have over 100 kills on the season. Rachel Gosselink is averaging 12.2 assists per game and has a team-high 13 ace serves. Hanno (42) and Randa Hulstein (39) lead the Red Raiders in blocks. Senior Karrisa Davelaar is averaging 3.8 digs per game.
Next up... Northwestern will host College of St. Mary's on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 in one of their final non-conference matches of the season.
2007 media guide
