ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern secured their second win of the day Saturday afternoon over Macalester College with set scores of 25-13, 25-16, and 25-14.
With a powerful start to the set, Northwestern forced an early Macalester timeout at 9-2, thanks to an eight-point run. UNW continued to drive the Scots into panic mode as they led 19-7, including four rocket kills from the right side by
Cari Miller (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley).
Lydia Palkert (Excelsior, Minn./Southwest Christian) also added three kills in the last stretch helping the Eagles secure the 25-13 set win. Set 2 looked much like the first with an early home team 11-3 lead forcing yet another Scots timeout. Kills across the board scattered the Scots who were unable to read Northwestern's offense. With a run of four after being down 21-13, Macalester's last-minute push wasn't enough in their 25-16 loss. The third set continued to play in the Purple and Gold's favor leading 19-7, with
Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) leading the front line with five kills. With three home team errors, the Scots gained a few more points but fell 25-14.
With a hitting percentage of .248, the Eagles spread kills all across the board, with
Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) and
Hallie Mueth (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) both tallying eight, and
Faith Vander Galien (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) close behind with seven. Defensively,
Lizzy Potratz (Oshkosh, Wis./Valley Christian ) and
Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) led the Eagles with 14 and 12 digs for the match.
Regan Fruh, Lynn Zemaiitis, and Brooke Hunter all racked up four kills for Macalester with Cora Trout leading in digs with 17.
Northwestern (13-6, 7-0 UMAC) will host the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Tuesday night in the Ericksen Center at 7 p.m. Next weekend the Eagles will host homecoming games on Friday at 7 p.m. against Northland College and Saturday at 12 p.m. against St. Scholastica followed by the last home match at 6 p.m. against North Central University.