Northwestern at Walsh

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The Raiders came back from a 2-0 deficit and outlasted #22 Walsh (Ohio) 3-2 at the 2008 NAIA Volleyball National Championship. Northwestern, the 10th seed, improves to 29-7 overall and more importantly improve to 2-0 in pool C, assuring their place in the 12-team single elimination tournament that begins on Friday morning. The Raiders will play third-ranked Concordia in the final match of pool C tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Like NWC, the Eagles are 2-0 in pool play and will advance to play on Friday.

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The upstart Cavaliers played like a team with nothing to lose in the first two sets, jumping out to huge leads early and winning sets one and two by the scores of 25-19 and 25-19.

Northwestern, in desperate need of a momentum shift, got in the third set as they turned a 4-3 lead into a 15-7 advantage. Randa Hulstein led the charge with four kills during the run. The Raiders ended up winning the third set, 25-12.

Like the third set, NWC started fast in set four with a 9-3 lead. Walsh battled back to cut the deficit back to three (12-9) before another Raider run put the score at 17-10. The Cavaliers got to within four, 23-19, but NWC held on to win, 25-20, and tie the match at two.

In the fifth and final set, Northwestern took a 6-2 lead before Walsh surged back to trail 9-8. After a Van Den Bosch timeout, the Raiders scored five of the next six points to pull ahead, 14-9. The Cavaliers scored two straight points before Rylee Hulstein sealed the match from the left side for a 15-11 win.

Northwestern was led by Randa Hulstein with 22 kills and six blocks. Hillary Hanno collected 15 kills and Kate Buyert added 11 kills and four blocks.

The Raiders will play Concordia (Calif.) tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. in the final match of pool C play. Complete Results