ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern needed less than an hour to win its first of three matches in a 24-hour marathon, defeating Northland College 3-0 (25-7, 25-14, 25-15) on Friday night. The Eagles played nearly everyone on their roster while hitting .316 on the night. Northwestern also kept its opponent from hitting in positive numbers as the LumberJills finished the three-set match with a -.047 attack rate.
Lizzy Jonas (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian ) had plenty of time at the service line, getting 16 consecutive attempts in a run that took the Eagles from a 5-2 lead to a 20-3 margin in a matter of minutes in the first set. Freshman
Cadrian Axelson (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) saw time early in the match, pushing two aces through in her first appearance at the line. Axelson would add another ace in the second set to finish with three for the match. As a team, Northwestern found open real estate on nine opportunities, with
Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) notching four service aces.
Peterson had five kills as the Eagles hit .407 in a first set that saw the purple-clad UNW squad put up four blocks, three of which came from the hands of
Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington).
Early leads by Northland in the second and third rounds gave the visitors a bit of a boost, but the second and third sets still went in Northwestern's favor by rather large buffers. The Eagles featured a nearly all-freshman team at many times throughout the night with libero
Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ), a senior, being the only non-rookie on the court for head coach
Beth Wilmeth.
Northwestern needed just 10 kills to win the second set, using five aces and a block to help get to 25 points with Northland's errors chipping in for the rest.
Gonder finished with a team-best 10 kills on 12 attempts, with
Lizzy Jonas (Neenah, Wis./Valley Christian ) and
Leesa Hulstrand (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) combining for 34 assists to help UNW improve to 14-7 overall and 8-0 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play. Peterson added eight kills, while Potratz was good for 13 digs for the Eagles.
Cassie Baumgarten and Camille Eastburn accounted for 13 of Northland's 16 kills on the night, while Kelsey Bodart had 16 assists.
UNW is back for a doubleheader on Saturday, starting with the UMAC Game of the Week at 12 noon when the College of St. Scholastica comes to town for a rematch of the two teams' Sept. 27 five-set thriller. The Eagles will then wrap up the weekend with a 6 p.m. contest against North Central University. Both matches will take place in the Ericksen Center.
