ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern volleyball team welcomed St. Scholastica to the Ericksen Center for Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) semi-final tournament play Wednesday evening. After falling in a set one battle (28-26), the Eagles responded by dominating the next three sets (25-19, 25-11 and 25-9) to clinch their eighteenth straight win over the Saints.
 
With the win, Northwestern (23-8) will advance to the UMAC Championship and face Minnesota-Morris (21-11) on Saturday. The Eagles have won seven straight UMAC tournament championships and last met the Cougars on Oct. 10, 2018 when they won in five sets.
 
St. Scholastica came out firing, taking a 10-5 advantage before a Northwestern timeout stopped the run. The Eagles pulled within two (14-12) on back-to-back kills from Mariah Halvorsen (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) before the Saints went on another 4-0 run to lead by five. The Eagles inched back, finally evening the score at 23 apiece and took the lead on another Halvorsen kill. Northwestern had two match points, but couldn't capitalize on either – eventually falling short 28-26.
 
The next three sets were another story, as the Eagles never trailed and went on as much as a 10-0 run to secure the four-set win.
 
Northwestern's offense was led by senior Mariah Halvorsen (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), who finished with 21 kills. Halvorsen passed a milestone, recording her 800^th career kill (after competing just two seasons for UNW). Halvorsen also tacked on 15 digs in the four-setter.
 
Three more Eagles posted double-digit kill totals on the night. Sophomore Jenay Fuglestad (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian) finished with 13 kills, hitting a .325 attack average, while freshman Hope Kapelke (Ft. Atkinson, Wisc./Ft. Atkinson) finished with 11.
 
Anna Gasch (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) had an excellent showing for the Eagles, knocking down 10 kills and hitting .600. Gasch led the team with four block assists.
 
Dishing out 53 assists was freshman Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY), who continues to lead the NCAA in assists/set. Schwitters garnered UMAC Player of the Week honors for the fifth time this season on Monday.
 
Kalley Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) led the defensive efforts for Northwestern, picking up 25 digs. Freya Hanson (Otsego, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) added 19.
 
Northwestern will host the UMAC Championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. For more information visit www.unweagles.com or the UMAC's Volleyball Championship site here.