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Volleyball

Eagles persevere to defeat Minn.-Morris

ST. PAUL (Oct. 9, 2008) – The Northwestern College volleyball team didn't have their best night on the court, but still got the job done in a 3-1 win over the University of Minnesota, Morris. Playing without reigning UMAC Defensive Player of the Week and starting libero Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City), the Eagles had their passing woes. NWC, who has only played six matches this year with their regular starting lineup, rallied around senior Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran), who had a season-high 23 kills on 49 attempts (.347).

After coming out hot in the first set (25-12), Northwestern struggled to find a rhythm in the second set.   Down 24-17, the Eagles strung together six straight points to put the pressure on Morris, but the Cougars finally reached the 25-point mark to win the set 25-23. NWC came back to take care of business on their home court in Sets 3 and 4, winning 25-13 and 25-9 to take the match.

Northwestern hit .260 as a team, while Morris struggled with a .088 attacking percentage. As the Eagles settled down in the third and fourth sets, so too did their passing. Northwestern had 80 digs on the night, led by 18 from both Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) and Kelsey Korporal (Sumner, Iowa/Sumner-Fredericksburg) (Sumner, Iowa/Sumner-Fredricksburg).

NWC Head Coach Beth Wilmeth switched to a 5-1 offense after the second set, and setter Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian )'s (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) statistics reflected that, as the sophomore had a match-high 37 assists. Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) added 13 assists.

Helping Engel set the team on fire was Koth, who chipped in 11 kills of her own. Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian) and Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) added eight and seven kills, respectively. The Eagles held a 57-28 advantage in kills over the Cougars (5-11, 0-5 UMAC).

The win was Northwestern's sixth in a row, improving their record to 13-4 overall and a perfect 5-0 in UMAC play. The Eagles will host Presentation College, who won their first match of the season at Crown College earlier in the evening, on Friday night. That match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Ericksen Center. 
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