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Volleyball

Double Dip: Eagles stretch UMAC streak before upsetting No. 24 Saint Mary's

Northwestern-Crown Box Score
Northwestern-Saint Mary's Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College volleyball team extended its UMAC winning streak to 34 on Wednesday night with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-12) victory over Crown College. That win wasn't the biggest of the night for the Eagles though, as NWC upset 24th-ranked Saint Mary's University 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-18) in the triangular's nightcap.

Northwestern out-performed itself against Crown, upping last week's season-high attacking percentage of .398 from the Eagles' match against Macalester to a .442 mark against the Storm. Elissa Sandstrom (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) (Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) had another strong match for Northwestern, posting 13 kills on 18 attempts for a .667 personal hitting rate. Chelsea Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) wasn't too far behind her teammate as the junior built up 11 kills in the match. 

Setter Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian ) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) was responsible for much of the team's success as the senior tallied 23 assists before yielding the floor to freshman Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial), who finished with eight assists.

With its offense holding a 45-20 advantage in total kills, Northwestern's defense didn't have too busy of a night, although Greta King (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) (Willmar, Minn./Willmar), Danielle Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) (Iowa City, Iowa/City) and Kostek all had seven digs.  

King brought the intensity against Saint Mary's and it showed. The junior had 10 kills on 23 attempts while having an equally great game in the back row with seven digs. Other Eagles, such as Courtney Jonas (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian) (Neenah, Wis./Victory Christian) and Sandstrom, fed off of their teammate to post seven kills of their own as Northwestern hit .314 in the match.

Kostek was nearly flawless, earning 30 assists in the match to eclipse the 3,000-assist mark for her college career. She now stands in second place in the NWC record book with 3,022 career assists. Together with Kelsey Korporal (Sumner, Iowa/Sumner-Fredericksburg) (Sumner, Iowa/Sumner-Fredericksburg), the two combined for 20 of the team's 42 digs in the match. Korporal almost singlehandedly took down the Cardinals in the first set, posting four services aces to help the Eagles race out to a 13-2 lead. The senior ended the match with six aces.

Following the win, NWC improves to 14-9 on the season and has yet to lose in the Ericksen Center in 2010. That record will be on the line again on Thursday, Oct. 14. For now, Northwestern, who has won ten straight matches, will try to feed off of tonight's energy for Friday's big match against the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth as the UMAC's two undefeated teams square off at 7 p.m. The Eagles will then play two matches on Saturday against Northland College and Finlandia University in Ashland, Wis.
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