ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern volleyball team made the short trip to the University of St. Thomas to take on Stevens Institute of Technology and #18 St. Thomas in a pair of non-conference match-ups. The Eagles came away with an exciting five-set win over Stevens, before falling to #18 St. Thomas in straight sets.
 
Northwestern moves to 11-7 on the year. Stevens holds a 9-10 overall mark this season after falling to UST in four prior to their match-up with the Eagles. The Tommies improve to 19-3 and have won eight straight following today's wins.
 
Northwestern 3, Stevens 2 – Set Scores: 25-15, 22-25, 29-27, 23-25 and 15-6
The Eagles got off to a strong start after jumping out to a 15-7 lead in set one. Jenay Fuglestad (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian) led UNW in the early run – recording seven kills in the first 15 points. Northwestern kept up the consistency, hitting .400 as a team to cruise to a 25-15 set one win.
 
The momentum shifted in set two as an early series of UNW hitting errors gave Stevens the advantage. The Ducks would hold on to the lead to secure a 25-22 win.
 
Set three was an all-out battle that featured five lead changes. Despite trailing 24-22, the Eagles fought back after kills from Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) and Kalley Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./Central Christian) tied it up at 24 apiece. Hardy then gave UNW the lead with a kill at 27-26 before back-to-back kills from Soleil Newland (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids - Rice) and Kalley Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./Central Christian) resulted in the 29-27 set three win.
 
UNW dropped a close set four before coming back to dominate set five, hitting .375 with not a single hitting error.
 
Jenay Fuglestad (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian) had a career night, recording 23 kills while hitting .370. Kalley Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./Central Christian) added 16 kills and freshman Soleil Newland (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids - Rice) put together a breakout night – knocking down 14 kills and an impressive .520 attack average.
 
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACRAY) dished out a season-best 55 assists and Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) dug up a career-best 35 digs. Sydney and Kalley Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./Central Christian) both posted double-doubles, adding 16 and 10 digs, respectively to their stat lines.
 
#18 St. Thomas 3, Northwestern 0 – Set Scores: 25-22, 25-18 and 25-19
Northwestern put up a fight in set one – falling behind by six, but coming back to pull within one (17-16) on a kill from Lucy Pelzel (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral). The Tommies would pull away after a series of kills to take the set 25-22.
 
UNW would suffer 10 attack errors in the next two sets to St. Thomas' six to fall in a quick set two and three. Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) and Jenay Fuglestad (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian) put together strong offensive performances, recording 15 and 22 kills, respectively. Soleil Newland (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids - Rice) had another consistent match, recording seven kills on 15 attempts with no errors.
 
The Eagles are 7-19-1 against the Tommies in the all-time head to head series. Northwestern last defeated UST in 2017, when they won in straight sets. Tonight's match marked the Eagles fourth contest against a ranked opponent this season.
 
Northwestern will return to action on Saturday when they welcome Northland College to the Ericksen Center. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. against the Lumberjills. The Eagles will then travel to North Central for an evening match-up.
 
Follow UNW volleyball online this season at www.unweagles.com or on Instagram and Twitter at @unwvb.