Box Score

ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern quickly moved on to a 6-0 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) record on Friday as the Eagles handed Crown College a rather fast 3-0 (25-5, 25-19, 25-10 ) victory in the Ericksen Center. UNW will have a chance to finish its first trip through the conference schedule undefeated, but an 11 a.m. match against the University of Minnesota Morris on Saturday stands in the way of that feat.



Taking on the Storm from Crown for the first time this year, Northwestern struggled in the first few points but soon found a rhythm in the first set. After an initial 2-2 tie, UNW recorded seven of the next eight points before allowing the Storm to grab two more, which ended up being Crown's final points of the set. Starting with a 10-5 buffer, Northwestern took the next 15 points to win Set 1 by a 25-5 score.

Crown returned to make the second set a bit more of a game as it nearly matched the Eagles point-for-point down the stretch. UNW owned a 16-10 edge, but the Storm crept back in to come within three at 22-19. Fortunately for Northwestern a Lydia Palkert (Excelsior, Minn./Southwest Christian) kill combined with two straight Crown errors finished the set with the Eagles winning 25-19.

Set 3 looked closer to the first round in terms of final score. Northwestern raced out to an 8-1 lead. Crown was able to rattle off three straight points, but several Storm service errors combined with back to back aces from Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) had the scoreboard reading 16-8 in the Eagles' favor. It was nearly smooth sailing after 16-9 as Northwestern won 10 of 11 rallies to take the set 25-10 and the match 3-0.

UNW hit .353 on the night, posting 38 kills behind 30 assists from Stoltz. Northwestern's defense held the Storm to negative hitting as Crown posted more attacking errors than kills. Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg) led the Eagles' with nine kills while three different players wearing purple and gold hit .350 or better. Defensively, Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) got her hands on three of Northwestern's four team blocks, while Lexi Bertsch (Andover, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian) had a match high 11 digs.

Da'neisha Patterson had 11 kills for Crown (1-18, 1-4 UMAC).

Saturday's match against Minnesota Morris is just one of two that the Eagles (10-9 overall) will play on their home court as they host a triangular with the Cougars and Gustavus Adolphus College. The Eagles and Morris will square off at 11 a.m. before the Cougars and Northwestern each get their shot at the Gusties in a rolling schedule afterwards.