Northwestern at Dordt

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Game Time... Third-ranked Northwestern concludes the regular season portion of their schedule as they travel to Sioux Center to play Dordt in GPAC volleyball Saturday night. The Raiders have already clinched the GPAC regular season title, their second straight league championship, with a perfect 15-0 record. They are 29-2 overall. Dordt is currently fourth in the GPAC with an 11-4 record, 24-10 overall. The match can be heard via the NWC webcast at the following link: Listen Now!

Last Time Out...the Defenders lost the first set but came back to defeat Dakota Wesleyan 3-1 (22-25, 25-10, 25-18, 25-17) in Mitchell, S.D. Four players totaled double figures in kills, led by Kendra Potgeter with 14. Steph Fykstra and Danae Geels belted down 11 and Brittany Landegent added 10. Cassie Huizenga and Jessica DeStigter lofted up 23 and 18 assists, respectively, and Dorinda Hibma led all players with 30 digs.

Northwestern swept both matches last weekend in Sioux City, defeating Briar Cliff (25-19, 25-20, 25-19) and Morningside (25-19, 25-12, 25-21) to clinch its second straight regular season championship. The Raiders hit 26% and were led by Hillary Hanno who belted down a match-high 15 kills. Randa Hulstein hit for 12 kills while Rylee Hulstein added eight. Northwestern continued its aggressive serving with six aces, led by Randa Hulstein and Delainye Woudstra with two aces each. Woudstra (14), Hulstein (15) and Kristin Kooima (10) all went perfect from the service line. Kaitlin Beaver lofted up 38 assists and totaled a match-high 15 digs. Three others added seven digs, including Janna Bloemendaal who moved into second place all-time with 1,756 career digs.

Previous Match-up... Northwestern recorded a 3-0 win (25-21, 25-20, 25-21)  over Dordt on Sept. 12 in Orange City, Iowa. Both teams were highly ranked heading into the match-up with the Raiders fifth and Dordt at #14. Randa Hulstein led a balanced Raider attack with 11 kills and three blocks, hitting .526 for the match. Hillary Hanno added 10 kills, hitting .318 in the three  games. Rylee Hulstein recorded eight kills and eight digs. Kaitlin Beaver lofted up 31 assists and led an offensive attack that hit .248 for the match. Northwestern totaled seven ace serves, led by Heather Goehring with four and Randa Hulstein with two.  Hulstein also led the defense with 14 digs and Delainye Woudstra added 10.

Dordt was led by Jana Van Zanten with 15 kills and Kendra Potgeter added seven.

The Series... Since 1989, Northwestern is 29-34 against the Defenders but 7-4 in the most recent match-ups (since 2005). Northwestern has won the last three meetings, however, three of the last six matches have gone to five sets.

Dordt News and Notes... The Defenders snapped a three-match losing streak Tuesday night with a 3-1 win over Dakota Wesleyan. Prior to that win, Dordt lost three straight matches last week, all on the road and all by 3-1 scores. They were defeated by the U. of South Dakota (NCAA), Morningside and Briar Cliff. The Defenders, who will play Mount Marty Friday night, are 23-10 overall, 10-4 in the GPAC.

Tom Van Den Bosch, in his 14th year as the head coach of the Defenders, guided his teams to eight conference championships and seven NAIA national tournament appearances, including in 2008 where they finished with a 32-10 record.

Dordt ranks fifth in the GPAC in both kills (12.7) and attack percentage (22%). Their offense is led by junior Kendra Potgeter who ranks fifth in the GPAC averaging 3.5 kills per set. A two-time all-conference player (1st team in 2008), Potgeter is hitting 28% this season and leads the team with 1.2 blocks per set, third best in the conference. She is joined by a talented cast of freshmen led by outside hitter Jana Van Zanten who averages 2.9 kills per set, hitting 22% with 55 blocks. Danae Geels averages 2.3 kills and is hitting a team-best .324 since taking over as a starter on the outside while Brittany Landegent averages 2.1 kills per set, also on the outside. Steph Fykstra plays opposite Potgeter in the middle and averages 1.1 kills and totals 60 blocks. Setters Cassie Huizenga (5.1aps) and Jessica DeStigter (5.2aps) run the offense for Coach Van Den Bosch and combine for 40 ace serves this season. Junior Dorinda Hibma leads the GPAC with 6.6 digs per set and is a two-time second team all-GPAC libero. Sophomores Amber Weingartner (18 aces) and Brandee Schaap (30 aces) are serving and defensive specialists.

Raider News and Notes...Northwestern has won its last 16 matches and of those, 13 are by 3-0 scores. Their two losses are to fifth-ranked Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and sixth-ranked Georgetown (Ky.), both by 3-2 scores. With their win over Morningside last Saturday, the Raiders captured their second straight GPAC regular season championship and sealed a berth in their fourth consecutive NAIA National Tournament. They are 15-0 in the GPAC, 29-2 overall.

Head Coach Kyle Van Den Bosch, in his fifth season with the Raiders, is 147-40 heading into this weekend's match-up. He has led the Raiders to four national tournaments and two regular season titles.

The Raiders are among the GPAC's best in kills (13.9), attack percentage (31%), blocks (2.5) and ace serves (2.1 per set). They are led by senior middle hitter Randa Hulstein who leads the GPAC with a 40% kill efficiency, averaging four kills and 1.1 blocks per set. She ranks fourth all-time in NWC history in kills and is the all-time leader in career blocks. Junior outside hitter Hillary Hanno leads the GPAC in kills (4.2) and ranks fifth in kill efficiency (34%). Both Hulstein and Hanno are very good in the backrow as well, averaging 2.7 and 1.7 digs per set. Rylee Hulstein, a sophomore outside hitter, averages 2.2 kills and 2.6 digs per set, hitting 23% with 47 blocks on the season. Bobbie jean Rich ranks eighth in the conference with a 30% kill efficiency, averaging 1.4 kills and 1.1 blocks per set. Jennifer Jansen is hitting 25% on the outside, averaging 1.2 kills per set. Kaitlin Beaver ranks second in the GPAC with 11.3 assists per set and is the reigning GPAC Setter-of-the-Week, the fourth time the junior earned the honor. Three Raiders, Randa Hulstein (49), Beaver (36) and freshman Heather Goehring (43) rank among the top 10 in ace serves. Janna Bloemendaal leads the team with 3.1 digs per set and is just three away from the career mark set by Megan Meyer in 2007 (1,758). Delainye Woudstra averages 2.6 digs per set and leads the team in serve percentage (94%). Kristin Kooima comes into serve and has 24 ace serves.

Up Next... The Raiders will have a week off before they host a GPAC Quarterfinal match on Saturday, Nov. 7.