LAKEWOOD, Colo. (Dec. 5, 2008) – Friday's results at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Tournament weren't quite the same as Thursday's, as the Northwestern College volleyball team's season came to a close following losses to Cedarville and Campbellsville Universities.

After the Eagles went up 2-1 on the fifth-seeded Yellowjackets from Cedarville, things were looking positive.  Cedarville came back to win the fourth set before claiming the decisive fifth set to take the match (16-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 15-5).  The Yellowjackets, who eventually beat Dallas Baptist University for the national championship, have won all eight of their matches that have gone to five sets this season.

Three Eagles were in double figures for kills in the match, including Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran), who posted 20.  Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) tallied 12 kills, while Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) added 11 in the loss.  Setting the table for Northwestern's offense was Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian), who recorded 28 and 21 assists.  As a team, the Eagles had a .153 attacking percentage.

Defensively, Koth led NWC with 20 digs, while three more Eagles posted double-digit digs.  As a team, NWC posted a perfect passing rate of 1.000.  Bicket, Engel, Slagter and Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian) each had three or more blocks in the match.

Northwestern tried to shake off the loss as the team switched venues in preparation for a match against first-seeded Campbellsville.  After a four-point loss in the first set, the Eagles roared back for a 25-13 win in Set 2.  NWC started to run out of gas in the third and fourth sets though, and Campbellsville took advantage to the 3-1 finish (25-21, 13-25, 25-19, 25-14).

The usual suspects in Engel (13), Koth (11) and Bicket (10) each had double-digit kills again.  Kostek and Slagter combined for 28 assists as Northwestern posted a .143 attacking percentage.

Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City) led the Eagles with 19 digs, while Koth followed with 17.  As a team, Northwestern collected a six-dig advantage over Campbellsville.  Three Eagles once again had three blocks in the match.

Northwestern, which hadn't lost back-to-back matches all year, finishes the season at 30-7 after collecting the most wins in program history to go with the third-best season record at NWC and the third-best winning streak at 12 matches.  Both Engel and Bicket end their collegiate careers with over 1,000 kills.  Engel wraps up her four years with 1,826 career kills, which ranks fourth all-time.

Following the championship match, Koth and Engel were honored with postseason awards.  While being named to the all-tournament team, Koth added NCCAA First Team All-America honors to her season's resume.  Engel was selected to the NCCAA Second Team All-America squad.