NEW ULM, Minn. – The No. 15 nationally ranked University of Northwestern volleyball team completed their season sweep of UMAC opponents with a pair of wins on the road. The Eagles finished the regular season 14-0 in conference play after sweeping the Martin Luther College Knights 3-0 and defeating the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings 3-1 on Saturday.
UNW opened their match against MLC strong. The Knights kept it close through the first 16 points trailing 9-7, but then the Eagles won the next five and 13 of the next 16 to go up 22-10. Martin Luther went on a late run to cut into the lead, but UNW held on to win 25-17.
Set two was the most efficient for Northwestern. The Eagles jumped out to a 9-1 lead and later a 13-2 lead before MLC could counter with a run of their own. UNW had two four-point runs later in the set as they cruised to a 25-12 win to go up 2-0 on the Knights.
In the third, Martin Luther rallied early to even the score at 9-9. UNW then retook the lead with a four-point run to go up 13-9. The Knights fought back, but the Eagles jumped ahead with a five-point run later in the set to take a 21-13 lead. Northwestern proceeded to close out the set 25-17 to complete the 3-0 sweep.
Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) led the way for the Eagles as the NCAA DIII national leader in assists per set had 36 total for an average of 12.00 per set. Schwitters had a double-double with 10 digs to match
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) for the team lead.
Lucy Pelzel (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) shined bright with a team-high 11 kills on a remarkable .478 hitting percentage.
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) and
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) followed Pelzel with 10 and nine kills respectively on even better hitting percentages of .533 and .583.
After sweeping the Knights, the Eagles traveled to Mankato to battle the Vikings. Bethany Luther stepped up to the plate and didn't back down from the undefeated UMAC Champions, making a statement with a 25-23 opening set win.
Down 1-0 in the match, the Eagles responded by outscoring BLC nearly 2-to-1 over the next two sets, winning 50 points to the Vikings' 26. Northwestern took the second set 25-15 to even up the match, and then had their most efficient set win of the day in the third as they soared to a 25-11 victory to go up 2-1 in the match.
After taking two sets in stride, the Eagles faced a surge from the Vikings in the fourth set, as BLC had no intentions of going down without a fight. Bethany Lutheran took a 6-4 lead early and the Eagles chased behind them until BLC went up 14-11. At that pivotal moment, the Eagles flipped a switch and went on a 7-0 run highlighted by three blocks, two kills, and an ace. Now trailing 18-14, the Vikings kept up the fight and cut the Eagle lead down to one at 19-18. UNW and MLC went back and forth for the next eight points with neither team able to string together consecutive points. Up 23-22 in the set, the Eagles got a kill from their all-star senior setter Schwitters to reach match-point, and an ensuing Vikings attack error gave UNW the 25-22 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
Schroyer had 41 digs for Northwestern in the match for an incredible average of 10.25 per set. Schwitters recorded 43 assists for the Eagles with five kills on .625 hitting and nine digs.
Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) led UNW with 14 kills in the match on .297 hitting. Pelzel followed with 12 kills, adding five aces to total eight aces on the day between the two matches.
Up next for the 2021 UMAC Champion Eagles is the start of the UMAC Tournament on Wednesday, November 3. The Semifinal match starts at 7:00 p.m. as the No. 1 seeded Eagles host the No. 4 seeded Martin Luther Knights.
