Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – The College of St. Scholastica put a slight scare into the Northwestern volleyball team on Friday night, but after a first set loss to the Saints, the Eagles rallied to win the next three to claim a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23) victory in the Reif Gymnasium. The win, UNW's sixth straight, bumps the Purple up to a 17-11 overall record (10-1 UMAC) heading into Saturday's 1 p.m. matinee against Northland College in Ashland, Wis.

St. Scholastica came out firing from the get-go took seven of the first nine points to force an Eagles timeout at 7-2. Northwestern put together a three-point run shortly after the one minute break, but the Saints wouldn't allow their visitors to build any more momentum. UNW came within a point of St. Scholastica at 18-17, but the home squad took advantage of back-to-back kills and an Eagles attacking error to lead 21-17 en route to a 25-20 first set victory.

Northwestern started to find its rhythm early on in Set 2, turning a 4-3 CSS advantage into a 13-6 Eagles lead thanks to kills from Faith Vander Galien (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) and Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg). While UNW's lead remained intact at seven points when the Eagles hit 17 points, St. Scholastica decided to press the gas pedal, forcing Northwestern into consecutive attacking miscues followed by a pair of kills from Noelle Elvehjem to get uncomfortably close at 19-17. The Saints' push ultimately tied the score at 21 points apiece before a Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ) kill and an Elvehjem hitting error put the Eagles ahead 23-21. CSS notched the next two points to tie the score again at 23-23-, but Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) pounded down a kill before coming up with one of her five blocks on the night to even the match score at 1-1 with a 25-23 set victory.

The Eagles continued to roll in the third set before another nail biting fourth round waited ahead. Northwestern scored the first nine points of Set 3 and had three different runs of four consecutive points or more. Potratz put down three kills in four attempts at one point, while kills from Korporal and Hallie Mueth (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) had UNW just one set away from a match win after a 25-14 set score.

St. Scholastica responded with a solid effort in the fourth set as neither team led by more than three points throughout the entire battle to 25. Amidst 15 ties in the round, Northwestern came back from a 22-19 deficit, taking advantage of a Erika Birkeland ball handling error and two straight attacking errors from the Saints to knot the score at 22-22. With Potratz's ensuing attack going wide, Miller came up big again, recording a kill and a block in consecutive points before a Korporal Kill finished the set and match comebacks.

Northwestern's team attacking rate of .193 was enough to get the job done, with Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) building on last week's 4,000 assists plateau with 52 more against the Saints. Potratz had a team-best 16 kills, while Miller added to her timely blocks with 13 kills and a .393 hitting percentage. Along with the Eagles' nine team blocks, UNW's back row was also active as Lexi Bertsch (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian)'s 29 digs were one of four double-digit performances for Northwestern.

Kortney Morrin had 20 kills for St. Scholastica, who fell to 9-14 overall (5-5 UMAC) following the Saints' loss.