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MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – Northwestern suffered a difficult setback to start its day at the Cornell College Volleyball Classic before ending the tournament on a positive note. The Eagles took a 3-0 hit from host school-Cornell at 11 a.m. but were able to return home with consolation and overcome adversity with a 3-2 defeat of Augsburg College in a rematch of last Saturday's contest in Minneapolis.

Against Cornell, the Eagles struggled with their worst hitting percentage of the year thus far, managing only a .069 rate. Cornell forced NWC into 22 errors throughout the three-set match, although Northwestern turned a 25-11 first set deficit into a close 26-24 second set loss, nearly evening the match score at 1-1. The Eagles lost Set No. 3 25-18 and immediately turned their attention to the afternoon finale versus Augsburg. Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg) had nine kills for Northwestern, while Lexi Bertsch (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian)'s 10 digs led the team.

Meanwhile, Cornell hit .225 behind a 16-kill performance from Taylor Dicus as Northwestern was adjusting to a couple switches in its lineup.

Northwestern improved to 2-1 in five-set matches after coming back from a 2-0 Augsburg lead (17-25, 17-25, 25-12, 25-19, 15-12). Korporal and Lydia Palkert (Excelsior, Minn./Southwest Christian) each had 14 kills as the Eagles looked more like themselves, finishing with a .214 hitting percentage. Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) had 45 assists while Bertsch had a match-high 25 digs. NWC found success at the net on defense too, tallying eight blocks, six of which came off the hands of Tija Rudzitis (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian ).

On the other side of the court, Ashley Peper and Colleen Ourada each had 14 kills to lead Augsburg, who finished the weekend with a 9-5 overall record.

For the second straight week, Stoltz was named to the all-tournament team after earning the same honor at the Augsburg Invitational seven days ago.

Now 8-5 in 2012, Northwestern will return to the practice court next week to prepare for its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) matches of the season. The Eagles will hit the road on Friday bound for Ashland, Wis. when NWC faces Northland College in a 7 p.m. match before taking on rival College of St. Scholastica in a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday.