St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 4, 2007 - The Northwestern College volleyball team took care of Northland College in quick fashion Thursday night, defeating the LumberJills 3-0 (30-22, 30-16, 30-18) in the Ericksen Center. Both teams entered Thursday's match undefeated in conference play, but it didn't take long for the Eagles to show who the better team was, at least for tonight.

Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) was stellar on a night where the junior was honored for recording her 1,000th kill during the team's month-long away trip, having not played a home contest since September 5. Engel had a team-high 13 kills behind a .370 attacking percentage, bumping her career kill total to 1,157, which places her fifth in the school's all-time history.

Northland looked like they came to play in the first game, as the score was tied at 17-17 before Northwestern would pull away in spurts of two and three, ultimately winning the initial contest 30-22. The Eagles proved to be too much in Games 2 and 3 though, as they reached the 20-point plateau in both segments before allowing the LumberJills to hit ten. Reaching 30 was downhill from there for NWC, as three- and four-point swings initiated by Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian)'s (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) serving made it look relatively easy.

Engel was one of three Eagles in double-digit kills, as Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian) and Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) each posted 11, respectively. Whitmore was on fire from the middle blocker position, recording her 11 kills in a mere 16 attempts for a .562 attacking percentage.

Overall, Northwestern owned a .244 attacking percentage, while Northland's number of errors equaled their kill total to make an even zero percent. The same margin was evident in the total kills column, as the Eagles owned a 48-28 advantage.

Melissa Anderson was the 'Jills' offensive leader with seven kills on the night.

Koth and Ashley Filipi (Fertile, MN/Ada-Borup High School) (Fertile, Minn./Ada-Borup) each had 17 digs to lead Northwestern. Running a smooth 6-2 offense, Slagter and Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) combined for 46 assists.

Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) and Whitmore were steady on the blocks, as each was a part of four blocks, boosting the Eagles' total to nine for the match. Northland countered with a mere two blocks. Bicket's four blocks moved her into second place all-time for total blocks in a career at Northwestern. Her current mark of 339 slips past Erin Riley's 338.

Northwestern's victory puts them alone atop the UMAC standings at 5-0 in conference play (13-9 overall), while Northland (8-12, 4-1 UMAC) travels to Crown on Friday hoping to avenge their first conference loss.

With the win, the Eagles have won five matches in a row, and will hope to carry their momentum into Friday, when they host another UMAC foe in St. Scholastica for a 7 p.m. match.

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