Northwestern at Dakota Wesleyan

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Game Time... Fifth-ranked Northwestern opens conference play this evening as they take on Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell, S.D. The match is slated to begin at 7:30 pm and is preceded by the junior varsity match at 6:00 pm.

Scouting Report... The Tigers come into tonight's match with a 6-3 overall record and like Northwestern, are playing in their conference opener. DWU opened the season with a 3-1 Red Raider Classic, defeating Mayville State (3-1), Valley City State (3-2) and Waldorf (3-1). They lost to Baker (3-0) in their final match of the RRC and followed with a 3-0 win at Presentation College in Aberdeen, S.D. Last weekend, the Tigers co-hosted the DWU/Mount Marty Tournament where they split their four matches. They defeated South Dakota Tech and U. of Montana Western and lost to Dickinson State and Rocky Mountain College.

Head Coach Eric Viney begins his second season with the DWU program after a 13-22 last year. They tied for 10th in the GPAC with a 3-13 mark and lost four players off that squad, including both setters, libero Dena Kopfmann (2nd team all-GPAC) and middle hitter Maria Weineke, their leading hitter.

Returning for Coach Viney's squad are middle hitters Jayna Morrill and Jen Miner and outside hitter Ashley Kley. A 5-10 senior, Morrill is hitting .174 this season, putting down 1.5 kills per set, third best on the team. Miner, a 5'11 junior, ranks second on the team with 2.3 kills and 24 blocks and boasts a team-best .238 hitting percentage. On the outside, Kley leads the team with 2.7 kills per set and is second in digs (2.6). Kacie Sanderson, a 6-1 sophomore, averages 1.4 kills per set and leads the team with 28 blocks. Newcomer Carina Fesenmaier, a 5-10 setter who transferred from Ridgewater College, is the full-time setter lofts up 8.5 assists per set. She ranks second on the team with 13 ace serves and averages 1.7 digs per set. Junior Amye Brown takes over the libero duties this season and leads the team with 14 ace serves and 3.7 digs per set.

DWU is hitting .139 this season compared to .118 for their opponents.

Last Season... Northwestern swept both meetings last season, defeating the Tigers 3-0 (25-14,25-12,25-13) in Orange City and 3-0 (18,19,12) in Mitchell, S.D. In the first match, Ashley Kley led the DWU with seven kills while NWC was led by Hillary Hanno (8) and Kate Buyert (7). Randa Hulstein (11) and Hanno (10) led the Raiders in the second match vs DWU while Kley once again led DWU with seven kills.

Red Raider Notes... The Raiders are 7-1 and held the fifth spot in this week's NAIA ratings, one of four GPAC teams in the top 25. Northwestern went 3-1 at the Red Raider Classic, with wins over Baker, Indiana Wesleyan and Peru State. They lost in a thrilling five-set match to #4 Azusa Pacific, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 18-25 and 9-15. Last weekend, the Raiders went 4-0 without dropping a set at the College of St. Mary Classic.

As a team, NWC is hitting .351, averaging 12.8 kills per set. Opponents are hitting just .069 against NWC. Randa Hulstein leads the team in kills (4.4), kill percentage (.481) and ranks second in blocks (1.17). The senior middle hitter needs just seven more blocks to become the program's all-time leader in total blocks. (Hulstein-609...record held by Krista Westra with 615). Hillary Hanno averages 3.9 kills per set and is hitting .414 on the outside for Van Den Bosch's squad. Jennifer Jansen (1.3) and Rylee Hulstein (1.3) are the other top hitters. Kaitlin Beaver lofts up 9.9 assists per game and ranks second on the team with 15 aces. Janna Bloemendaal leads the team in digs (3.1) and ranks sixth all-time with 1,520 career digs.

Up Next ... Northwestern will host Dordt on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 pm.