Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern volleyball squad won both of its two matches on Saturday, defeating the Knights from Martin Luther College in a key Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) matchup in the Ericksen Center before heading over to North Central University in Minneapolis to beat the Rams. The Eagles used timely hitting and a massive defensive effort to beat Martin Luther 3-1 (25-23, 25-13, 23-25, 25-21) followed by a dominant 3-0 showing (25-15, 25-10, 25-10) to cap the evening.

Martin Luther was the team in charge for most of the first set in the day's initial match, but Northwestern used a big comeback to tie the score at 21-21 after trailing 18-10. While Hallie Mueth (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) and Faith Vander Galien (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) did their part on offense to bring the Purple and Gold back, the Eagles received some help from some untimely attacking errors on the Knights' half of the court. Two more offensive blunders by Martin Luther after the tie gave UNW a two-point lead, and the Eagles finished with kills from Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg) to put Northwestern up 1-0 in the match score.

The Eagles used their late-game momentum from the first set to lead early in the second as UNW owned a 10-2 lead. Rebecca Engelbrecht and Heather Danell used kills to try and put the Knights within reach, but four straight serves by Korporal sparked an Eagles run that gave the home team a 20-8 cushion. Back to back kills from Engelbrecht put a few more points on the board for MLC, but an answer from Korporal combined with a Danell attacking error gave the Eagles a 25-13 set victory.

Martin Luther showed that it wasn't out of gas yet as the Knights led 13-7 midway through the third set. A Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ) kill kept Northwestern in the game at 16-14, but the Eagles waited too long to hit their booster button. Miller used a pass from Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) to cut the Knights lead to one at 23-22, but Engelbrecht came right back for a kill to put her team up by a pair. Potratz offered a kill for UNW on the next play, but there was Engelbrecht again, as her kill, courtesy of a Miranda Maasz assist, gave the Knights a glimmer of hope after a 25-23 win in Set 3.

Neither team was able to establish a strong momentum in the fourth set as the scoreboard showed seven ties before either the Eagles or Knights hit 10 points. Back-to-back attacking errors gave Northwestern a small amount of breathing room at 10-7, but a few points later, Engelbrecht was back to doing her thing to keep Martin Luther within two at 12-10. That slight UNW buffer stayed true all the way into the 20s, as Northwestern clung to a 23-21 lead, needing just two points to win the set and the match. Korporal offered the first of those two points with a kill before Mueth and Vander Galien rejected Sara Willems' attack with a block.

Northwestern hit .228 as a team, but the Eagles' whopping 18 blocks was the number that really stuck out in the box score as Miller went for 10 assisted blocks with Potratz adding two solos and six assisted rejections. Offensively, UNW had three players record double-digit kills, including Mueth's 15, a career high for the junior. Korporal added 14 kills, while Miller had 13 as Stoltz was good for 53 assists to put her four-year total at 3,999 heading into the night cap.

The Knights' Engelbrecht finished with 19 kills on 59 attempts, helping Martin Luther finish with a .119 attacking rate after being at an even .000 following the first two sets.

While the Eagles' blocks returned against North Central, it was Northwestern's hitting that really did the Rams in as UNW hit a season-best .513 in the city. Head coach Beth Wilmeth's crew connected for 47 kills in 78 attempts, committing just seven errors, helping Stoltz get well over the 4,000-assist hump as the senior finished the match with 39.

North Central recorded the first point of the night on Jamie High's kill, but that lead was short lived as Northwestern would soon go on a tear that saw the Eagles put up three scoring runs of four points apiece en route to a 25-15 first set victory.

Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) and Jenna Staso (Missoula, Mont./Sentinel) each saw action in all three sets, with Gonder recording six of her nine kills on the night in the third round. UNW had nine points before the Rams were able to score in the second set, with the Eagles going on to lead 17-2 in the same game. With Korporal at the service line, Northwestern finished the set with three straight points on a Mueth kill, a Rams error and an ace from Korporal.

More lopsided volleyball continued in the third set as the Eagles' runs lasted longer. Emily Robertson (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) got six straight serves in as a pair of Korporal kills and a block from the combination of Gonder and Korporal sprung UNW out to an early 7-1 advantage. When North Central's point total hit 10, Northwestern was at 22 before a Robertson ace helped the Eagles finish the set 25-10 to wrap up a pair of victories on the day.

Korporal led all players with 11 kills, just one ahead of Mueth's 10 as both outside hitters posted an attacking rate better than .425. Gonder had her hand in three of the Eagles' five blocks.

Winner of five straight matches, Northwestern now finds itself at 16-11 overall with a 9-1 mark in UMAC play. Just one regular season home game remains for the Eagles, but a pair of road matches against the College of St. Scholastica and Northland College next Friday and Saturday comes first as UNW pursues its third straight conference championship.