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Volleyball

Volleyball gives No. 10 St. Benedict an overtime effort in 3-1 loss

Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College volleyball team left it all on the court in its 2009 debut on Tuesday, but fell short in a 3-1 loss to the 10th-ranked Blazers from the College of St. Benedict. Each of the four sets went into extra points as the fans in attendance witnessed a match that had several long volleys and point rallies.

St. Ben's led 24-17 in the first set, readying themselves to go again in Set No. 2. Northwestern wasn't ready to give up though, as the Eagles battled back to a 24-24 tie before losing 30-28. Chelsea Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) posted five kills in the set to pace NWC.

The second set featured an Eagles rally once again, as the comeback kids were down 24-20 before turning things around. Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) followed a kill by sister Chelsea with back-to-back blocks to win the set for Northwestern at 27-25.

Northwestern led down the stretch in the third set, but after trading points with the Blazers past the 25-25 mark, St. Ben's finished with three straight points to win 28-26. Much of the same was true in Set No. 4, as Northwestern led 20-15, causing a timeout from CSB. The Blazers came out of the break with four straight points, and tied the score at 21-21.  After another tie at 23-23, St. Ben's attained the needed two-point margin to win the set and the match, 26-24.

Just like the scores, not much separated the two teams in the major statistical categories, as they nearly matched one another. St. Ben's posted an attacking percentage of .142, while Northwestern countered with a .132 rate. The Eagles' defense gave the Blazers issues though, as NWC was tough at the net, as was evidenced by their 14 team blocks.

Individually, several Norhtwestern players turned in solid performances, including the Koth sisters - both of which posted double-digit kills. Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing), the reigning UMAC Player of the Year and NCAA/AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, tallied 16 kills and a .256 attacking percentage to go with 14 digs. Chelsea Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) added 11 kills to her sister's total.

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) had 25 and 24 assists, respectively, for the Eagles while Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City) posted 27 digs. Sarah Whitmore (Prior Lake, MN/Prior Lake Christian) (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian), Slagter and Steph Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) were each a part of four blocks, while Elissa Sandstrom (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) led all players with seven blocks.

St. Benedict was led by Kayli Schumacher, who paced all players with 19 kills. Chelsie Sobieck added 13 kills for the Blazers, while Beth Hanson had 46 assists.

The Eagles begin their season at 0-1, while St. Benedict's No . 10 ranking is safe for now with their 1-0 record.

Northwestern and St. Benedict will play each other again in just 10 days, when they face off on Sept. 11 at a tournament hosted by Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Until then, Northwestern will play two matches on Friday, Sept. 4 at St. Olaf College. The first match will be against St. Olaf at 2 p.m. before Carleton College comes across town to face the Eagles at St. Olaf for a 4 p.m. bout.
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