ST. PAUL — The University of Northwestern brought the heat to the University of St. Thomas with a 3-1 victory in Tommies Territory Friday night. This is the Eagles' first win over UST since the 2001 season, the senior year of Head Coach Beth Wilmeth.
 
Northwestern took off running in the first two sets, winning with a comfortable lead. Trailing the entire third set, the Eagles made a steady comeback forcing a Tommie timeout with a 19-18 deficit. With a Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) block, UNW tied up at 19 points. Leesa Hulstrand (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) came in clutch with a setter dump, followed by a Toria Gillson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Christian) service ace, putting the Eagles in match point position. With a Tommie comeback, the match led into the fourth set. Northwestern plowed through the fourth, with a 21-13 lead over UST, finishing 25-16.
 
Shanay Gonder (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) shined for the Eagles with countless momentum-building plays, racking her career best of 21 kills. Gonder killed it with a .594 hitting percentage for the night. Leesa Hulstrand (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and Lindsey Peterson (Sheffield, Iowa/West Fork) tied at 11 kills. The Eagles spread the stats board with double digit kills with Peterson (18), Jackie Foster (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) (17), Freya Hanson (Otsego, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) (12), and Abby Vander Galien (Chanhassen, Minn./Southwest Christian) (12) all contributing on the defensive end.
                                                                                                                                 
The Eagles will host a tri-game next Wednesday, October 1st as UNW plays Crown College at 4 p.m. and Macalester College at 7 p.m. in the Ericksen Center.