Nebraska Wesleyan at Northwestern

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Game Time...The Red Raider volleyball team will host both Nebraska Wesleyan and 19th-ranked Doane in the final homestand of the regular season. Fifth-ranked Northwestern won its 11th straight match Wednesday night and improved to 10-0 in the GPAC, 24-2 overall. The Prairie Wolves come into the weekend with a 6-4 GPAC record, 16-6 overall and are ranked 21st in the AVCA D-III poll. Doane enters the weekend on a 10-match win streak and boast an 8-1 record, 21-4 overall. Friday's match against NWU begins at 7:30 pm and Saturday's match, which is also senior/parent's night, will begin at 5:00 pm. Both matches can be viewed via the NWC webcast at the following link: Watch/Listen Now!

All-Time Series... Since 1989, Northwestern leads the all-time series against Doane 24-16. The Raiders won the last six match-ups and are 6-4 in the last 10 meetings. Against Nebraska Wesleyan, Northwestern holds a 26-2 lead in the season series since 1989 and is 9-1 in the last 10 match-ups. Last year, Northwestern downed Nebraska Wesleyan 3-1 (25-23, 15-25, 25-22, 25-18) in Lincoln, Neb. Hillary Hanno and Randa Hulstein led the way with 22 and 21 kills, respectively. Kelsey Elman led the Wolves with 12 kills while Laura Brammeier added 10. The Raiders swept both meetings last year against Doane, defeating the Tigers 3-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the GPAC semifinals. Hanno totaled 40 kills in the two matches while Terra Andreasen led Doane with 18 kills.

Last Time Out...Nebraska Wesleyan capped off a successful weekend with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20) sweep over Dakota Wesleyan last Saturday (Oct. 10). The Prairie Wolves also defeated Sioux Falls last Friday. Laura Brammeier had an outstanding match for NWU as she had 20 kills with an impressive .531 hitting percentage. She completed her double-double with 12 digs to lead the team in that category as well. Ashley Jedlicka nearly had a triple-double as she also recorded 38 assists, 10 digs and eight kills from her setter position.

The Tiger volleyball team extended their winning streak to 10 matches last Saturday with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-10) victory over the University of Sioux Falls. Doane was paced by Susan Rollman's 14 kills in 20 attacks. Ivie Speer added 12 kills and Jessy Livers finished with 11 for the Tigers. As a team, Doane hit .495 for the game while Sioux Falls was held to a .093 attack percentage. The blocking game was led by Rollman's five total blocks. Heather Davison posted 28 set assists while Cassie Reicks contributed 15 for the Tigers.  Emily Schwisow led the back row with 13 digs while Livers added 12. 

Hillary Hanno registered a match-high 15 kills in leading fifth-ranked Northwestern to a 3-0 win (25-16,25-11,25-18) over Mount Marty last Wednesday night. Hanno hit .406 for the match, totaling 15 kills in 32 chances with just two errors. She added six digs and went 9-9 from the service line with two aces. Bobbie jean Rich tallied eight kills, hit .571 for the match and added four blocks. Kaitlin Beaver lofted up 29 assists and led an offense that hit .348 in the three sets. Northwestern registered 11 ace serves, four by Heather Goehring and two each for Kristin Kooima, Randa Hulstein and Hillary Hanno. Janna Bloemendaal tallied a team-best 13 digs.

Scouting Report...Nebraska Wesleyan: The Prairie Wolves and head coach Gina Chambers come into the weekend with a 16-6 overall mark, 6-4 in the GPAC. Earlier this season, NWU earned a spot in the AVCA NCAA D-III top 25 and were 21st in last week's rating. In 2008, NWU finished with a 20-10 record and lost in the NCAA D-III west region semifinals. They were sixth in the GPAC with a school-record for wins at 10-6. Coach Chambers returns four starters and seven letter winners, headed by second team all-GPAC libero, Erika Goldsmith. The junior averages nearly six digs per set and has 18 ace serves. Sophomore Ashley Jedlicka, an honorable mention all-GPAC pick in 2008, ranks third in the conference with 9.5 assists per set and 11th in ace serves with 31. She earned GPAC Setter of the Week honors last week. Junior Laura Brammeier leads NWU with 3.7 kills per set and averages 3.5 digs. Elise Schmid ranks fourth in the GPAC in blocks (1.2) and averages 2.0 kills per set. Brittny Barber ranks second on the team with 2.9 kills per set.

                             Doane: The Tigers were one of four GPAC teams to earn a trip to the 2008 NAIA National Tournament, posting a 28-10 overall record, 12-4 in the GPAC. Head Coach Cindy Meyer, the winningest coach in the history of the program with over 550 wins, returns six of eight starters including three of five all-conference players. Doane ranks in the GPAC's top three in several categories including kills (13.6), hitting percentage (.255) and blocks (2.4). Jessy Livers, a second team all-GPAC pick in 2008, ranks 10th in the GPAC with 3.1 kills per set. Terra Andreasen, an honorable mention all-GPAC pick as a freshman, averages 2.3 kills and posts 30 blocks. Sophomore Kellie Peterson and freshman Susan Rollman play the middle for the Tigers and combine for over four kills and two blocks per set. Rollman leads the team in kill percentage (.333) and blocks (116). Ivie Speer (2.5) and Lisa Lord (1.2) are the other top hitters. Heather Davison (6.2) and Cassie Reicks (4.8) lead the offense at the setter position. Emily Schwisow returns as the Tigers' libero after earning first team all-GPAC honors in 2008. She averages 4.9 digs per match and has 13 ace serves.

Red Raider News and Notes...  Northwestern remains tied with Morningside atop the GPAC standings with a 10-0 record, 24-2 overall. They won 11 straight matches and were ranked fifth for the third straight week in the last NAIA poll. The Raiders are among the top three teams in the GPAC in kills (13.5), hitting percentage (.308), ace serves (2.1) and blocks (2.4).

Randa Hulstein ranks sixth in the NAIA and leads the GPAC in hitting percentage (.402). She averages just under four kills and 1.1 blocks per set, both ranking in the top five in the GPAC. Hillary Hanno leads the conference averaging 4.1 kills per set, hitting .332 on the outside for NWC. Rylee Hulstein averages 2.2 kills per set, hitting .218 on the season. Bobbie jean Rich (1.3) and Jennifer Jansen (1.1) are the other top hitters for NWC. Kaitlin Beaver ranks second in the GPAC, lofting up 10.9 assists per set. The junior is ninth in aces (33) and has 46 blocks. Heather Goehring (39) and Randa Hulstein (36) rank third and eighth in the GPAC in ace serves. Janna Bloemendaal leads the team with 3.1 digs per set and ranks third all-time with 1,705 career digs, just 54 shy of setting the record set by Megan Meyer (2007) with 1,758. Delainye Woudstra averages 2.7 digs per set and leads the team in serve percentage at 94%. Kristin Kooima has 19 ace serves this season, serving 87%.

Up Next... Northwestern goes on the road for three matches next week, beginning with USF on Oct. 21.