ST. PAUL (Sep. 30, 2008) – After a 25-7 first set, it looked as if the Northwestern College volleyball team was going to roll over the University of Wisconsin-Stout on Tuesday evening. The Blue Devils came back and gave the Eagles a match before NWC held on for their eighth win in nine matches.

After stout jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the second set, Northwestern posted a comeback, rallying for an 11-10 advantage. A 23-18 Eagles lead fell apart though, as Stout scored seven straight points to win the set in 25-23 fashion.

Stout started right where they left off in Set 3, racing out to a 5-0 lead before NWC once again took the lead at 17-16. The Eagles stayed true this time, scoring four straight times to win 25-20.

After taking a 7-6 lead in the fourth and final set, Northwestern never looked back, keeping the Blue Devils in check until the set resulted in a 25-21 and gave the Eagles a 3-1 match victory.

Despite allowing UW-Stout to stay in the match, Northwestern had a .268 attacking percentage, which was more than double the effort from their opponents. The Eagles posted a nine-kill advantage, and had nine blocks, compared to Stout's three.

Northwestern had two players with double-digit kills, as Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) and Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) had 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Engel kept the Eagles' attacking percentage high, as she hit .412 on her own.

Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) and Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) led an effective 6-2 offensive effort, combining for 49 assists in the match.

Defensively, Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City) led the team with 25 digs, followed by Koth with 20.

Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Mnn./Prior Lake Christian), who had a career high 10 blocks versus Stout two years ago, led the Eagles with five blocks this time, followed by teammate Elissa Sandstrom (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) (Cloquet, Minn./Carleton), who had four.

Two Blue Devils had 10-plus kills, including Maggie Meixl, who led the team with 15. Alicia Mizer had 31 digs for UW-Stout.

After four full seasons of going winless against UW-Stout, Northwestern head coach Beth Wilmeth was finally awarded her first victory over the Blue Devils. Wilmeth's career coaching record with the Eagles now stands at 89-73 (.549). Following the win, Northwestern improves to 10-4 overall (2-0 UMAC), while UW-Stout slides to 3-14 (0-2 WIAC).

The Eagles will resume their UMAC schedule this weekend, as Martin Luther College and Bethany Lutheran College come to the Ericksen Center. Northwestern's match versus the Knights from Martin Luther will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 1 p.m. Saturday matinee against Bethany Lutheran.