Raider Volleyball Team Closes Regular Season Against Dordt

Game Time... The Red Raiders take on rival Dordt College in the final match of the regular season. Both teams are ranked in the top 25 and have won their last nine matches. Northwestern is 24-7 overall, ranked 17th in last week's poll and in second place in the league with a 12-3 record. The Dordt Defenders are ranked 11th in the last rating, are 30-6 overall and 11-4 in the GPAC standings. The JV match is set for 6:00 pm, followed by the varsity match at 7:30 pm.

Scouting Report... The Defenders have won their last nine matches and 14 of their 16, dating back to Sept. 21 at their own tournament. Of those 14 wins, all but four have been 3-0 match sweeps, including ones over Morningside, Hastings, Concordia and at Northwestern. Leading the way for the Defenders is senior setter Emily Van Voorst who ranks third in the GPAC averaging 12.8 assists per game. She has also recorded 70 blocks, 41 aces and is averaging 2.7 per game. Offensively, Dordt ranks second in both kills per game (15.3) and hitting efficiency (.241). Kristin DeRonde leads the team with a .291 hitting efficiency and 3.8 kills per game. Larissa Veldhuizen puts down 3.5 kills per game and Kendra Potgeter averages 3.4 kills and a team-high 1.3 blocks per game. Autumn Vande Kamp (3) and Betsy Van't Hul (1.0) are the other top hitters for the Defenders. Defensively, Dordt is anchored in the back by Dorinda Hibma and Liz Van Voorst. Hibma, who earned NAIA Libero-of-the-Week honors earlier this season, leads Dordt with 5.5 digs per game and also has served a team-high 42 aces. Van Voorst averages 3.6 digs per game and has 38 ace serves. Van't Hul, who plays all-around for the Defenders, averages 3.5 digs and has 36 ace serves.

Last Time Out... Dordt swept past Mount Marty in Yankton, S.D., last Friday night in their only match last weekend. Individual game scores were 30-19, 30-22 and 30-23. Autumn Vande Kamp had 15 kills to lead the Defenders while De Ronde and Veldhuizen had 12 and 11 each. Van Voorst had 42 assists and Hibma 21 digs in Dordt’s 30th win of the season.

Northwestern swept past both Midland Lutheran and Dana last weekend in the Bultman Center. In Saturday's win over Dana, Randa Hulstein led the Raider attack with 11 kills and Beaver had nine. Hanno had seven and Gosselink put up 40 assists. Bloemendaal was the top digger with 13 and Meyer had nine. Hanno was credited with four solo and three assisted blocks. Individual game scores were 30-15, 30-16 and 30-16.

Red Raider Notes... Northwestern boasts the third best hitting efficiency (.229) and kills per game average (15) in the GPAC. Five players currently average over two kills per game, led by senior Megan Meyer. Meyer, who will be third all-time in total kills in her career, is averaging 3.3 kills per game and is hitting .245 for the season. Freshmen Bobbie jean Rich, Hillary Hanno and Kaitlin Beaver average 3.0, 2.8 and 2.7 kills per game, respectively. Hanno ranks ninth in the league with a .320 hitting efficiency.  Sophomore Randa Hulstein is averaging 2.4 kills per game and a team-high 1.2 blocks per contest. Sophomore setter Rachel Gosselink is averaging 13 assists per game, second best in the GPAC. As a team, Northwestern has served 187 ace serves and is serving 91%. Kaitlin Beaver leads the team with 44 aces, followed by Gosselink and Delainye Hardersen who each have 38. Leading the Red Raiders in the backrow are Janna Bloemendaal and Karrisa Davelaar. Bloemendaal, a sophomore, leads the team with 3.4 digs per game while Davelaar averages 3.3 digs.

The Series... Since 1989, Dordt leads the all-time series, 27-32. Last year, the Red Raiders went 3-1 against Dordt, winning both regular season matchups and the regional quarterfinal. This is the second meeting between them this season with Dordt winning 3-0 back on Oct. 3. Individual game scores were 30-26, 30-23 and 30-28. Northwestern was paced by Hanno’s 12 kills and Meyer had eight kills. Gosselink lofted 33 assists and Hanno also had three ace serves while Meyer was the leader in digs with 16. Larissa Veldhuizen led Dordt with 17 kills while Kristin De Ronde had 12 and Kendra Potgeter and Betsy Van’t Hul five a piece. Dorinda Hibma led the team with 16 digs and Emily Van Voorst put up a team high 33 assists for the Defenders.

Current GPAC Standings...

Next up... After tonight's match, the Red Raiders will have to wait until the Wednesday night matches are complete to find out the GPAC tournament pairings. First round matches will be Saturday night at the four highest seeds. If Morningside wins their match tonight against Briar Cliff, the Mustangs will be the top seed. A Morningside loss coupled with a Red Raider win will put both teams at 13-3. Having split their two regular season matchups, it will have to go to tie-breaking procedures to determine the top seed. A Red Raider and Morningside loss could end up resulting in a four-way tie for second place at 12-4 (Hastings hosts Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday night). The eight-team tournament field is set as Midland Lutheran has clinched the final spot in the postseason tournament.