ST. PAUL, Minn.- After a magical opening night at the Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational on Friday night, Eagle fans were wondering what the UNW Volleyball team would do for an encore on Saturday, and the Eagles did not disappoint. UNW played two matches, only needing six sets to come away with two wins, sweeping UW-Stevens Point and Wisconsin Lutheran. With the two wins, the Eagles finished the weekend 4-0, winning the tournament championship on their home floor.

Northwestern tipped off against UW-Stevens Point to start their afternoon, and it became clear immediately that the Eagles were locked in. The action started with an Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) kill off of a Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) pass to go up 1-0, and the Eagles did not look back. Northwestern opened up the game on an astonishing 11-0 run, which forced the Pointers to use both of their timeouts early on in the game. A few points later Schwitters delivered an ace (which contributed to the Aces for Joy campaign) to give the Eagles a 14-1 lead. UNW would remain in control throughout the set and cruise to a 25-9 victory that set the tone for the afternoon.

The Pointers put up a fight at the beginning of the second set. UNW fell behind 4-1, and then 6-5 before kills from Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) and Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria), and then an ace from Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) gave the Eagles their first lead of the set. Once again, the Eagles would not look back. Northwestern went on another one of their remarkable streaks that became their signature over the weekend. The Eagles led 12-8 when Straub took over the serving duties, and Northwestern would score eight straight points to take a commanding 20-8 lead. Caitlyn Pruis (Sioux Falls, SD./Sioux Falls Christian) and Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) both had multiple kills during this run. The Pointers tried to fight back into the set but the Eagles remained in control, winning set two in convincing fashion, 25-12.

Set three was the tightest set throughout the match. Once again, the Eagles went on a long streak to set the tone in the set. The Pointers took the first two points, but Northwestern rattled off seven straight points this time to take a 7-2 lead. Later on, thanks to a streak of good serves from Kate Rogers (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy), the Eagles led 15-7. However, this time it was the Pointers' turn to go on a run. They scored six straight points to cut the deficit to 15-13. The two teams would trade points until the set reached a pivotal point with the Eagles leading 20-19, where the Eagles decided to slam the door on the match. With Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) serving, Northwestern scored four straight points to go up 24-19. Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) had three kills during that run. Northwestern would win the set 25-20, and the match 3-0.

Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) led the way with 38 assists and eight digs. Kate Rogers (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) and Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) were strong on the defensive end, each coming away with 12 digs. Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) had 18 kills, and Kendra Hardy (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) had ten kills of her own to pace the Eagles offensively.

Next up, the Eagles faced off against the Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors, needing one more win to cap off a perfect weekend.

This goes without saying, but the Eagles used a long streak of points to take control early on in the first set. Trailing 2-1, UNW scored seven straight, led by the serving of Schwitters. Northwestern would remain in control throughout the first set, never allowing the Warriors to come within three points. It was Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) who finished things off in set number one, pounding a Schwitters assist through the heart of the defense. The Eagles won the first set 25-17.

The second set followed the same script as the first. The Eagles used an early run to take control, securing the first five points of the set. Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) had four kills during this run, and Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) had one as well. A kill by Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY), who spends most of her time setting her teammates up for kills, gave Northwestern an early 10-3 lead. Despite an effort to come back made by the Warriors, Northwestern remained in control and won the second set 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead.

The Eagles entered the third set needing one more victory to win the Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational, and to have a perfect day winning all six of their sets played. Northwestern never trailed in the set, using another seven point streak to go up 13-4. Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) came in to serve and led the Eagles on another run, giving them their biggest lead of the set, 17-5. The Warriors strung a run of their own together but it wasn't enough as UNW would close out the set 25-18 and win the match 3-0 giving themselves the tournament championship.

Seven Eagles had kills in the match showcasing the balance that gave the team success. Glanzer led the way with 12, and Hardy and Pruis had five each. Schwitters continued her fantastic weekend totaling 23 kills and six digs. Schroyer had 12 digs of her own, and Straub chipped in defensively digging out 11 balls herself.

The Eagles won the Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational and were very well represented on the All-Tournament Team. Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) and Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) were named to the team, and Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) was named Tournament MVP in addition to making the All-Tournament Team. Bethel University had two representatives on the team, Hannah Wilhite and Kirsten Cotter, and Ashley Kopp (UW-Stevens Point), Haley Walz (Pacific), and Ally Goba (Wisconsin Lutheran) rounded out the All-Tournament Team.

Sydney Schwitters (Clara City, Minn./MACCRAY) put on a show all weekend long in the Ericksen Center earning the Tournament MVP award. She finished with a total of 140 assists over the four games (35 per match) including a whopping total of 58 in the great match against Bethel on Friday night. Schwitters put the Eagles' attackers in situations to succeed all weekend long. The senior also contributed defensively, adding 34 digs to her weekend resume. Add in the six serving aces she had, and the senior put together a completely dominant weekend.

Abby Glanzer's (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) inclusion to the All-Tournament team was well deserved to say the least. The freshman played in her first ever Kathryne Pals Legacy Invitational, and she made quite the impression. She had 64 kills over the course of the weekend (16 per match), and her weekend was highlighted by her extraordinary performance against Bethel on Friday night. The freshman tallied 27 kills, which tied for fifth all time for kills in a match in program history. In addition to her offense, the freshman had 30 digs to help out defensively as well.

Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) was the rock on the back line for the Eagles all weekend long and was deservedly named to the All-Tournament team as well. The junior had 61 digs over the course of the four games (15.25 per match) as she made it very difficult for opposing teams to score points on the Eagles. Schroyer also threw in 12 assists and a kill over the weekend, as it was clear that the junior's performance was key to the Eagles success all weekend long.

It was an exciting weekend full of volleyball for the Eagles, and the squad now gets a well-deserved rest as they don't play again until Friday, September 10^th in the UNW Triangular against UW-La Crosse and Dubuque inside the Ericksen Center.