Duluth, Minn., Oct. 26, 2007 – After cumulating the second-longest winning streak in Northwestern's history, the Eagles volleyball team lost their first UMAC conference match of 2007 Friday night, falling at the hands of St. Scholastica in a five-game match (22-30, 24-30, 30-25, 31-29, 7-15).
Northwestern, who claimed sole ownership of the conference championship on Wednesday, started slow out of the box with losses in the first two games, and couldn't find the winning edge after taking Games 3 and 4, losing a deciding Game 5 by a score of 7-15. After facing a match loss in the fourth game, the Eagles came back from a two-point deficit at 29-27 to win 31-29. NWC lost their rhythm in the fifth game though, recording almost as many errors as kills.
NWC owned advantages in several statistical categories in the loss, including total kills (71-63), attacking percentage (.174-.136) and total blocks (15-5-13.0).
Six individuals from Northwestern's squad tallied ten kills or more, with
Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) leading the way with 17.
Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) had 12, while
Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran),
Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake),
Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) and
Elissa Sandstrom (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) (Cloquet, Minn./Carleton) each had 10, 11 or 12, respectively.
Slagter and
Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Minn./Des Moines Christian) recorded 27 and 24 assists in Northwestern's 6-2 offense, while
Ashley Filipi (Fertile, MN/Ada-Borup High School) (Fertile, Minn./Ada-Borup) had 24 of the Eagles' 99 total digs.
Whitmore was crucial in the middle, taking part in nine of Northwestern's 15.5 blocks.
St. Scholastica's Shawna Varichak had 23 kills on the night.
Following their 13 consecutive wins and tonight's loss, the Eagles (20-10, 12-1 UMAC) will attempt to start a new winning streak on Saturday, when they face conference foe Northland and UW-Stout in an afternoon doubleheader in Ashland, Wis.
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