Northwestern at Sioux Falls

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Game Time...The third-ranked Raiders put their 13-match win streak on the line tomorrow night as they play the U. of Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls, S.D. The match is slated to begin at 7:30 pm. Northwestern is 12-0 in the GPAC, 26-2 overall while the Cougars are 4-7 in the GPAC, 15-15 overall.

Last Time Out... The University of Sioux Falls volleyball swept their matches last weekend, going 2-0 against GPAC opponents Concordia and Hastings.  In a 3-0 sweep of Concordia, the Cougars didn't allow the Bulldogs to score more than 20 points in any sets. The Cougars were led by a 11 kill, three dig, two block performance by junior Danielle Roers. Junior setter Samantha Haffke added 20 set assists and six digs.

The Cougars then played Hastings,who received votes in the latest NAIA poll. After the Cougars took the first game with a 25-19 advantage, Hastings easily won the next two sets, 25-10 and 25-15. Facing a loss, the Cougars fought their way to a 25-21 win to send the match to a fifth set where the Cougars pulled away with a 18-16 win. Roers once again led the team in kills with 14 and also added a dig and five block assists. Freshman Sarah Kohler added 10 kills, a set assist, two digs and five block assists.

Northwestern swept past both Nebraska Wesleyan (25-20,25-16,25-20) and Doane (25-10, 25-16, 25-15) last weekend to stay unbeaten in the GPAC with a 12-0 record. The Raiders are 26-2 overall and have won their last 13 matches.

Hillary Hanno and Randa Hulstein totaled 15 kills each as Northwestern hit .274 for the match and limited the Prairie Wolves to just .105. Northwestern totaled 23 blocks, led by Hulstein with nine. Bobbie jean Rich added three kills and five blocks. Kaitlin Beaver lofted up 42 assists in the win. Kristin Kooima added three ace serves and Delainye Woudstra registered a team-best 10 digs and went 12-for-12 from the service line.

Against Doane, the Raiders hit .462 and limited Doane to .084 for the match. Randa Hulstein led the way with 14 kills, hitting .600 for the three sets, and totaled five blocks. Rylee Hulstein and Hillary Hanno added nine kills each while Jennifer Jansen and Bobbie jean Rich added six and five kills, respectively. Kaitlin Beaver lofted up 40 assists in the win and guided the Raider offense. Randa Hulstein (9) and Janna Bloemendaal (8) led the team in digs.

Last Meeting... Northwestern improved to 4-0 in the conference with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-22) win over the University of Sioux Falls on Sept. 22. Northwestern hit .386 for the match and was led by Hillary Hanno who totaled 15 kills and hit .481 for the match. Randa Hulstein and Rylee Hulstein pounded down 12 and 10 kills, respectively while Kaitlin Beaver lofted up 40 assists. Rylee Hulstein totaled a team-high 12 digs while Delainye Woudstra and Janna Bloemendaal added 11 digs each.

USF was led by Amber Sneller with eight kills, six assists and six digs. Danielle Roers added five kills for USF, which hit .084 for the match.

USF News and Notes... The Cougars' two wins last weekend snapped a six-match losing skid, dating back to Sept. 26. With five matches left in the regular season, USF stands in eighth place with a 4-7 record, 15-15 overall. They trail seventh place Dana by just one game. (excluding Neb. Wesleyan--NCAA D-III).

For the year, USF ranks 10th in both kill efficiency (.166) and opponents kill efficiency (.204). They continue to lead the GPAC in ace serves, averaging 2.8 per set. Danielle Roers, an honorable mention all-GPAC player in 2008, leads USF averaging 2.7 kills and 2.5 digs per set. The junior is hitting .214 and has 30 aces. Amber Sneller is tied with Roers in kill efficiency (.214), and averaging 2.4 kills per set and ranks second with 52 ace serves. Sneller also serves as one of the two setters, averaging 4.2 assists per game. Alyssa Chambers (1.3) and Megan Boomgarden (1.3) boast a formidable 1-2 combination in the middle and lead the team with 101 and 41 blocks, respectively. Freshman Sarah Kohler (1.4 k/set)is the other top hitter in her first season at USF. Samantha Haffke makes the switch to setter this year after playing in the backrow in 2008. She averages 5.1 assists and 2.3 digs per set. Rachel Heeney has a team-best 58 ace serves to go with a team-high 6.2 digs per set.

Raider News and Notes... Northwestern moved up two spots to third in this week's NAIA rating, the highest the Raiders have been ranked since 1994. Coach Van Den Bosch's squad sits atop the GPAC standings with a 12-0 record with four matches left, including tomorrow's against USF. Northwestern has won 38 straight conference matches, dating back to 2007.

The Raiders are among the top three teams in the GPAC in kills (13.6), hitting percentage (.313), ace serves (2.1) and blocks (2.5). Randa Hulstein ranks sixth in the NAIA and leads the GPAC in hitting percentage (.408). She averages just under four kills and 1.2 blocks per set, both ranking in the top five in the GPAC. Hillary Hanno leads the conference averaging 4.1 kills per set, hitting .337 on the outside for NWC. Rylee Hulstein averages 2.1 kills per set, hitting .211 on the season. Bobbie jean Rich (1.4) and Jennifer Jansen (1.2) are the other top hitters for NWC. Kaitlin Beaver ranks second in the GPAC, lofting up 11.1 assists per set. The junior is ninth in aces (35) and has 49 blocks. Heather Goehring (43) and Randa Hulstein (41) rank third and sixth in the GPAC in ace serves. Janna Bloemendaal leads the team with three digs per set and ranks third all-time with 1,722 career digs, just 37 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 22 ace serves this season, serving 87%.

Up Next... Northwestern will play two more road matches this weekend against Briar Cliff (Friday) and Morningside (Saturday).