St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 3, 2007 – The 2007 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference season ended sooner than expected for the Northwestern College volleyball team, as the first-seeded Eagles were upset by fourth-seeded Northland College in five games (30-16, 30-16, 15-30, 18-30, 12-15). Northwestern won the first two games in quick fashion, but woke up a sleeping giant in the LumberJills, who rallied to take the final three games to leave Northwestern in confusion.

Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) had 20 kills in the match to lead Northwestern, while Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) contributed 13 kills to the Eagles' attack.

Northwestern recorded higher marks in attacking percentage and total kills, but Northland's perseverance guided them to a semifinal win. The Eagles hit .132 for the match, compared to .106 for the LumberJills. NWC also owned a 61-46 advantage in kills.

After a 30-16 win in Game 1, the Eagles caught fire again in Game 2, hitting .405 as a team. It went downhill from there though, as NWC averaged .017 for the remaining three games.

Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township), Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian), Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) and Elissa Sandstrom (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) (Cloquet, Minn./Carleton) each had seven kills in the loss, while Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and Slagter tallied 30 and 23 assists in the Eagles' 6-2 offense.

Koth led all players on the court with 24 digs, while Ashley Filipi (Fertile, MN/Ada-Borup High School) (Fertile, Minn./Ada-Borup) added 23 for Northwestern.

Sarah Hank had 15 kills for Northland, who advanced to the tournament's championship match to face Bethany Lutheran.

Northwestern (21-12 overall, 13-1 UMAC) will get three weeks off before hosting the National Christian College Athletic Association's National Volleyball Tournament on Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in the Ericksen Center. Stay tuned to nwc.edu/athletics for more details on the tournament as they become available.

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