Box Score DULUTH, Minn. – Northwestern College didn't leave the College of St. Scholastica with the same result as last year's UMAC Tournament Championship, as the Saints earned the UMAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21) victory over the Eagles. NWC will now anxiously await Monday's 10 a.m. selection show to see if its season will continue.
Both teams had 52 kills in Saturday's match, but the Saints defense allowed its offense to stay in more points. NWC also hurt itself at the service line, where the Eagles committed 11 errors. Despite early set ties, St. Scholastica pulled away in both the first and second sets behind hitting percentages of .324 and .371. Northwestern came back to win the third set behind kills from
Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and
Courtney Jonas (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian) (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian). The Eagles threatened to take the match to five sets in the fourth, but ran out of time as St. Scholastica earned consecutive points to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. NWC out-hit the Saints in the fourth set, but six serving errors negated the Eagles' performance at the net at the same time.
Northwestern's seniors led the way offensively, with
Chelsea Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) and
Greta King (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) earning 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Jonas and Miller each had eight kills as
Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) amassed 43 assists while the Eagles finished with a .172 attacking percentage for the match.
Defensively,
Lexi Bertsch (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian) (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek) led the Eagles with 22 digs, while
Jacki Smith (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy), Jonas and Stoltz all had at least four blocks.
Three Saints hit double digit kills, including Anna Zyvoloski, who led her team with 15. Nikki Hughes, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, finished with 30 digs in the match.
Northwestern was fourth in last week's edition of the NCAA regional rankings, which helps the national committee determine which teams make its national tournament. The Eagles are likely to fall in those rankings, especially with St. Scholastica's current No. 6 ranking, but how far no one knows. If NWC is not invited to the NCAA Tournament, which will kick off next Friday, the Eagles will finish the 2011 campaign with a 27-6 overall record while going 13-1 in UMAC play and sharing the conference regular season title with the Saints. Fans can tune into the NCAA Selection Show on ncaa.com at 10 a.m. CST.
