MINNEAPOLIS (Sep. 5, 2008) – The Northwestern College volleyball team ended their first day of competition at a weekend tournament hosted by Augsburg College on a good note, as the Eagles thumped the University of Wisconsin-Superior 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-11).
Excellent hitting and serving throttled Northwestern, as they hit a season-best .294 while racking up eight aces in the quick 45-minute match. In the third set alone, the Eagles had 13 kills in 24 attempts, which was good for a .500 attacking percentage.
Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) and Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) led all players with nine kills each, while Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) added seven.
Sophomore Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) had 31 assists in NWC's 5-1 offense. The Eagles usually run a 6-2 offense, but setter and opposite hitter Hillary Slagter (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) was unable to play due to injury.
Koth was a part of four of the team's five blocks in the match, tallying two by herself.
Earlier in the day, the Eagles held their own against eighth-ranked University of St. Thomas, but it was the Tommies who came out on top, 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-19).
After getting off to a slow start and losing the initial set 14-25, Northwestern picked up the pace in Set 2, pulling ahead of UST mid-way through the game. St. Thomas regained the lead though, rallying to win the set 25-20. The story was much of the same in the third set, as the Tommies claimed a 25-19 advantage en route to winning their first match of pool play.
Koth led the Eagles with nine kills in the match, while freshman sister Chelsea Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) had a personal-high six kills in her early collegiate career. Bicket also tallied six kills.
Kostek recorded 26 assists in the three-set match.
Sophomore Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City) tallied a match-high 25 digs to lead all players.
Katie McCaffrey and Carlie Waibel each had nine kills to lead St. Thomas.
Northwestern (2-2 overall) will take just enough time to get a good night's rest before resuming play on Saturday. St. Benedict, who received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll, awaits the Eagles for an 11 a.m. bout on Saturday. NWC will then wrap up their part of the tournament in a place match, which will either take place at 1 or 3 p.m.
