New Ulm, Minn., Oct. 19, 2007 – The Northwestern College volleyball team continued their undefeated Upper Midwest Athletic Conference record Friday evening, defeating Martin Luther College in three games (30-19, 30-28, 30-18). The win was the Eagles' 11th straight and their 12th out of 13 matches.

Besides a close second game, Northwestern was able to handle last year's conference champions, who have hit a slump in 2007. For the match, the Eagles owned a 15-kill advantage (46-31) while tallying five less attacking errors.

Northwestern's offense was running smoothly, even with an off night from one of their stars in Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran). Sophomore Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian) was strong in the middle, leading the Eagles with 11 kills in 20 attempts to make a .450 attacking percentage. Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) and Elissa Sandstrom (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) (Cloquet, Minn./Carleton) both contributed ten kills apiece to NWC's attack as well, helping the team post a .226 attack rate for the evening.

Koth led Northwestern in digs with 14, while Whitmore and Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) had four blocks apiece.

After Friday's win, the Eagles (18-9 overall, 10-0 UMAC) will make the short trip to Bethany Lutheran tomorrow with hopes of claiming the UMAC championship with a win over the Vikings. Saturday's match is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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