Box Score



ST. PAUL -- Northwestern College started a new winning streak on Friday after suffering a pair of nonconference losses on Wednesday, beating Martin Luther College 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) in the Ericksen Center in the Eagles' first home Upper Midwest Athletic Conference match of the 2012 season. Northwestern, who entered the week on a three-match winning streak, hit .281 against the Knights, who came into Friday's match with five straight wins of their own.

NWC came out on a mission right off the bat, taking the first six points of the initial set. Martin Luther mounted a comeback, and two thirds of the way through the set, the score was tied at 17-17. Fans in attendance saw ties at 18 and 19 too before the Eagles scored four straight points to lead 23-19. A Tija Rudzitis (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian ) kill and a Knights attacking error gave the Purple and Gold a 25-20 first set win.

Martin Luther wasn't fazed by the loss, as Martin Luther posted a 14-9 advantage to start Set 2. Northwestern battled, and was able to knot the score shortly at 17-17 before taking off on an 8-1 run to win 25-18. The Eagles continued in the third set right where they had left off in the second. After three- and four-point leads at 11-7 and 13-10, NWC again went on an offensive tear, winning 14 of the next 20 points to win Set 3 by the biggest margin, 25-14.

In addition to a successful night on offense, Northwestern was able to control much of the match's tempo on defense, as evidenced by the Eagles 10.5 blocks while holding Martin Luther to a .041 hitting rate on the other half of the court.

Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg) lead NWC with nine kills, but Rudzitis was the home team's star as the senior finished with six kills on eight attempts while tallying five blocks on the night. Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ) added eight kills to the Eagles' attack as Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) had 32 of Norhtwestern's 38 assists. On defense, Lexi Bertsch (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian) led all players with 12 digs.

Now 11-7 overall, the Eagles maintain their undefeated mark in conference play at 3-0. Northwestern will play two more UMAC teams on Saturday as the home stand continues with Bethany Lutheran College and North Central University visiting the Ericksen Center for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. contests.