Box Score Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – Despite just playing in its second Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) match this season, the Northwestern College volleyball team recorded a big win on Saturday afternoon, defeating the College of St. Scholastica 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 28-26, 25-16). The Eagles and Saints shared last season's UMAC championship, with both teams earning bids to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2011.

Northwestern raced out to a 12-6 lead in the first set, improving that advantage to as much as nine points on a setting error by St. Scholastica at 19-10. The Eagles hung on to nearly the same margin for the rest of the set, winning by eight.

The two teams were tied at 10-10 in Set 2 with another tie coming at 15-15. St. Scholastica won the next five points to go up 20-15 on consecutive kills by Taylor Tyllia. NWC got as close as 23-21, but the host-Saints beat the Eagles to 25 to tie the match at one set apiece.

Set 3 featured seven ties before either team made it to 11 points. Northwestern then ran out to a 22-16 advantage on back-to-back kills from Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg), but the Eagles made it interesting, allowing St. Scholastica to get back into contention. The Saints came back to lead 25-24 before attack errors put Northwestern in the driver's seat and a Korporal kill gave the Purple and Gold a 28-26 set victory. The final set was almost all Northwestern, with the Eagles needing just 12 rotations to win 25-16.

The Eagles hit .255 as a team throughout the match while holding St. Scholastica to a .150 attacking rate. NWC out-dug the Saints 68-59 while owning a 13-4.5 advantage in blocks. Korporal was one of three Northwestern players to hit .300 or better as the freshman had 18 kills. Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) finished the match with 48 assists.

Defensively, #Lexi  Bertsch# led all players with 25 digs, while Tija Rudzitis (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian ) got in on eight blocks. Courtney Jonas (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian) was also big on the block as the senior finished with five blocks.

Now 10-5 in the current campaign, the Eagles start their conference schedule with a 2-0 record. Northwestern will get its fill of matches in the coming week as the Eagles play a pair of nonconference matches against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Thomas on St. Thomas' campus on Wednesday before hosting Martin Luther, Bethany Lutheran and North Central (Minn.) in the Ericksen Center on Friday and Saturday.