Volleyball wraps up Augsburg Tournament on positive note

MINNEAPOLIS (Sep. 6, 2008) – Despite not being able to run their usual 6-2 offense, the Northwestern College volleyball team brought their A-game to Day 2 of the Augsburg Tournament. The Eagles took the College of St. Benedict, who received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll, to the brink of elimination in a five-set match before wrapping up the two-day event with a win over Macalester College.

In the early match, Northwestern took the first set 25-19 before the Blazers claimed Sets 2 25-20. The Eagles returned with a 25-16 win in the third set, and held a late lead in Set 4 before St. Ben's rallied for a 25-23 set victory. The Blazers then claimed the fifth and deciding set in 15-10 fashion.

Northwestern out-hit St. Benedict, posting a .183 attacking percentage, while the Blazers posted a .171 percentage. Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) went off for 21 kills to pace NWC, while Kathryne Engel (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) (Wayzata, Minn./West Lutheran) added 12.

NWC posted 25 more digs than their opponents at 83 for the match. Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City) led Northwestern with 25 digs, while three more Eagles had 15 or more digs in the match.

Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian) was a part of seven of the team's 14 blocks in the match. Laura Bicket (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) and Koth combined for 11 touches on the team's blocks as well.

Moving on to NWC's second match versus Macalester, the Eagles finished the tournament strong to maintain their .500 non-conference record.

Koth had a team-high 12 kills for the Eagles, who hit .157 for the three-game match. Rhodes continued her excellent passing, contributing 19 of the team's 57 digs. Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian), who amassed 40 assists in the St. Benedict match, tallied 27 assists this time around.

Northwestern held strong advantages in every statistical category in the game.

Koth earned all-tournament honors after the day's matches ended. Rhodes also had a sensational weekend, as her and Koth's passing set up the team's offense.

The Eagles (3-3 overall, 0-0 UMAC) will return home for the first time in the 2008 season, as they host Carleton College on Wednesday night. That match is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Ericksen Center.

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Volleyball wraps up Augsburg Tournament on positive note