Mankato, Minn., Oct. 20, 2007 – The Northwestern College volleyball team claimed at least a share of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship Saturday afternoon, defeating second-ranked Bethany Lutheran in three games (30-19, 30-22, 30-25). The win was Northwestern's 12th in a row, adding to their now 11-match undefeated match record in conference play. The Eagles have lost only one game in all of their UMAC matches, beating St. Scholastica 3-1 in early October. NWC has won every other conference match in three games.

The Eagles came out hot on Saturday afternoon, nailing 17 kills in 43 attempts to post a .302 attacking percentage in Game 1. An even better rate of .333 in the second game set NWC up for a match rate of .242, which easily trumped Bethany Lutheran's mark of .069. Northwestern was solid all around, claiming every statistical category from kills to digs to blocks.

After a five-kill match against Martin Luther the night before, Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) let it all out this afternoon, leading the Eagles with 14 kills. Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) added ten for NWC, who tallied 47 kills overall. Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) added seven kills in the win.

Adding to their already superb setting from Friday, 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) were near flawless again, posting 19 and 15 assists, respectively.

Blocking was a major factor for Northwestern, as they were able to contain the middle part of Bethany's offense, which usually throttles the Vikings. Northwestern racked up 13.5 blocks in the match, compared to nine for Bethany. Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian) was a part of seven blocks, while Bicket had six.

Ashley Filipi (Fertile, MN/Ada-Borup High School) (Fertile, Minn./Ada-Borup) had a team-high 18 digs.

With a win at Crown on Wednesday, the Eagles can take sole ownership of the regular-season conference title, their 11th in the program's history. At 19-9 overall and 11-0 in UMAC play, first-place Northwestern will host the four-team conference post-season tournament on Nov. 3. Wednesday's match at Crown is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

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