Box Score

ST. BONIFACIUS – A 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-11) win over Crown College wasn't exactly what University of Northwestern head volleyball coach Beth Wilmeth had in mind for her team on Friday night, but none the less, the Eagles earned their 19th victory of the year and improved to 12-1 to set up a Saturday showdown between UNW and the University of Minnesota Morris. Wilmeth and the rest of the Eagles squad would have preferred to leave Crown's gym with a quick 3-0 victory against the Storm. Instead, the match took nearly an hour and a half as Northwestern came back from a first set defeat to win Sets 2, 3 and 4.

UNW's back row defense struggled out of the gate in the first set as Crown was able to match the Eagles' 15 kills. Northwestern started to progressively recover in the remaining three sets though, posting attacking rates of .520 and .424 in the second and third round to finish at a .352 hitting percentage for the match. The Purple's defense also improved, especially with the entrance of senior libero Lexi Berstch for the final three sets. Bertsch finished the match with 17 digs to lead all players on both sides of the court.

Resting the still injured Kendra Korporal (Sumner, Iowa /Sumner-Fredericksburg), WIlmeth received 16 kills and a .406 hitting rate from Hallie Mueth (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) and 13 more kills from Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ) on the Eagles' opposite side. Krista Stoltz (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) produced 55 assists throughout the four-set match.

Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) had a hand in six of Northwestern's eight team blocks on the night as she played in place of Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley), who will return to the Eagles lineup on Saturday.

Shelby Morimoto had 18 kills for Crown, who fell to 4-26 overall (3-10 UMAC) after the loss.

In addition to their match against the Cougars form Minnesota Morris at 12 noon tomorrow, Northwestern will also get a second chance against Concordia College-Moorhead, who the Eagles lost to in five sets on the first day of the 2013 campaign at the end of August, at 4 p.m. If UNW were to beat Morris, the two teams would share the UMAC regular season championship.

Both Northwestern and the Cougars have secured home court advantage for next Wednesday's semifinal round of the UMAC Tournament. If UNW were to win Saturday's contest in three or four matches, the Eagles would claim the conference's top seed to ensure home court advantage throughout as long as UNW won. If the match goes to five sets, then it comes down to total points scored throughout the entire match, which Morris currently holds an 11-point edge over Northwestern.