Northwestern at Morningside

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The Northwestern College volleyball team earned a huge victory last night as they defeated Morningside, 3-1, in a GPAC showdown that featured ranked teams. The Red Raiders, who moved up two spots in this week's NAIA rankings to fifth, improved to 7-1 overall, 2-0 in the GPAC. Morningside, which came into the match undefeated and ranked eighth in this week's rating, falls to 12-1 overall, 1-1 in the GPAC. New NAIA Rankings

The Red Raiders grabbed the early lead in the first set only to have Morningside tie the score at six. The teams exchanged points until the hosts went on the set's first run, outscoring NWC 6-2 to take a 15-11 lead. Coach Van Den Bosch's squad battled back to cut the lead down to four (20-16) but the Mustangs held on to take set one, 25-18. Morningside hit .406 in set one, led by Emily Christen with four kills. NWC hit .212 and was led by Kaitlin Beaver with five kills.

Northwestern started fast in the second set (12-6) and continued to extend the lead to17-9 en route to a 25-17 lead. The Red Raiders controlled the net, hitting .217 and held the Mustangs attack in check with nine blocks in set two. Delainye Hardersen triggered the fast start by serving five straight points to take the lead for good.

The third set was a classic that featured 19 ties and six lead changes between the two teams. With Northwestern down by three, 20-17, the Red Raiders stormed back to tie the set at 20 and grabbed the lead for good at 25-24. Hillary Hanno led NWC with five kills in the classic third set while Addi Radke led all players with nine kills in the set three.

Morningside came out fast in set four, scoring the first five points before Northwestern rallied back to take a 9-6 lead. The hosts tied the score at nine but NWC took the lead for good by scoring the next three points and led by as much as seven down the stretch. They took set four, 25-19.

Northwestern hit .229 for the match compared to .145 for the Mustangs. The Red Raiders had a good night at the net with 21 total blocks, led by Randa Hulstein and Rylee Hulstein with five and four, respectively. Hillary Hanno totaled a game-high 18 kills while Randa Hulstein and Kate Buyert added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Rachel Gosselink lofted up 47 assists and had 13 digs. Janna Bloemendaal led the team with 15 digs. Kaitlin Beaver totaled nine kills, six assists and six digs.

The Red Raiders will now play the Graceland Tournament this weekend in Lamoni, Iowa.