NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The University of Northwestern volleyball team matched up with St. Olaf College in Friday night non-conference action. The Eagles, who took down the Oles, 3-1 in the teams' last meeting in 2018, were unable to pull off the road win tonight. St. Olaf took defeated Northwestern in three sets with final scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20.
The Eagles fall to 9-6 on the year as they prepare for another tough non-conference outing on Saturday against UW-Eau Claire (9-6 overall).
Both teams battled in set one as neither team led or trailed by more than two points throughout. The Eagles latest lead came at 19-17 following a UNW block from
Soleil Newland (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids - Rice) and
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria). St. Olaf won three straight points to take the defining lead caused by Eagle attack errors to pull off the 25-23 set win.
St. Olaf kept the momentum on their side – getting off to a hot 5-2 lead in set two. Northwestern would tie it up at 8-8, 16-16 and lastly at 20-20, but were unable to ever gain the lead. Freshman
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) put together a dominant performance – recording seven kills in the second set alone to keep UNW in the game.
Despite battling once again in set three – the Oles were able to take control of the set to cruise to a 25-20 win.
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) put together a career night, finishing with 16 kills and a .357 hitting average. She added a pair of aces and blocks on the night.
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACRAY) dished out 31 assists, while
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) picked up 21 digs in the three-setter. Summer Reid led St. Olaf with 13 kills on the night.
The Eagles will take on UW-Eau Claire at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Live video and stats will be available from Eau Claire here:
https://www.uwec.edu/learning-technology-services/live-streaming/uwec-athletics-live-stream/
Follow Northwestern volleyball online this season at
www.unweagles.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @unwvb.