ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 15 nationally ranked University of Northwestern volleyball team hosted a pair of UMAC matches on Saturday, facing Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther. The UNW Eagles extended their winning streak to seven and their sweeping streak to six as they took down both the BLC Vikings and MLC Knights in straight sets.
 
In the opener against Bethany Lutheran, the Eagles broke open the match early with a 10-point run to go up 11-1 early in the first set. UNW carried that momentum to an emphatic 25-7 win to go up 1-0.

The second set didn't have as long of run, but Northwestern still had a 15-1 run to take a 19-4 lead en route to another 25-7 set victory.

The Eagles topped their 15-1 second-set run in the third, as UNW allowed just one point through the first 17 to go up 16-1. The Vikings battled back and earned some kills, but the Eagles closed out the sweep with a 25-8 third-set victory to take the match.

Caitlyn Pruis (Sioux Falls, SD./Sioux Falls Christian) was on fire against the Vikings, hitting a ridiculous .818 to tie for the team high of nine kills. Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) stayed true to form, leading UNW in assists with 32. Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) recorded a remarkable six service aces to go along with her team-leading 14 digs.

Northwestern totaled 11 service aces against BLC and outhit the Vikings .402 to -.074.

The second match of the day against Martin Luther was far more closely contested. The Knights and Eagles entered the contest as the only two UMAC teams still undefeated in conference play, as each shared a 4-0 record against UMAC opponents.

MLC went up 8-5 in the first before the Eagles rallied to take a 9-8 lead. The two rivals battled back and forth until UNW broke away with a late four-point run to go up 23-17. Three points later, Northwestern finished up the set 25-18.

In the second, MLC took a 6-5 lead until UNW rattled off a seven-point run to take the 12-6 lead. The set was again tightly contested until UNW started serving up 21-17, as the Eagles won the next four points to send the match to the third and, ultimately, final set.

The third set saw UNW take control early with a 5-0 run to start the set. Later, three different runs of four would help Northwestern to a 25-16 win, completing the 3-0 sweep for the Eagles.

Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) led the Eagles' attack with 15 kills on .314 hitting, getting 10 digs in the process for a double-double. Schroyer led UNW with 16 digs in the match. Schwitters recorded an incredible 41 assists for an average of 13.67 per set, adding three kills, three service aces, seven digs, and two block assists.

UNW held MLC to a 0.00 hitting percentage compared to their .268 in the match.

Next up for Northwestern is a match against Wartburg College at home on Tuesday, October 5, starting at 7:00 p.m. in the Ericksen Center.