ST. PAUL, Minn. – No. 4 University of Northwestern Volleyball hosted North Park University, who is receiving votes in the national polls, on Thursday night for a First Round match of the 2022 NCAA DIII Women's Volleyball Championship at the St. Paul Regional. With the Ericksen Center packed full of UNW Nation fans, the top-seeded Eagles defeated the Vikings 3-1 to advance to the Round of 32 on Friday.
The Eagles started strong out the gate as they took an early 6-1 lead in the opening set. That five-point lead proved crucial as the two teams played evenly through the rest of the set until UNW took the set 25-20 on an
Ari Schmidt (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) kill, winning by five points.
Set two saw Northwestern take a 13-9 lead over North Park. The Vikings then went on a 9-2 run to go up 16-14 over the Eagles. UNW rallied to take a 20-18 lead, but NPU went on a 7-2 run at the end of the set to win it 25-22, tying the match at 1-1.
The Vikings looked to build upon their momentum in the third set as they took a 13-8 lead. Northwestern responded by winning seven points in a row and 12 of the next 13 to go up 20-14. UNW reached set point up 24-17, but the Vikings fought back and took four in a row to cut the Eagles' lead to three points. Schmidt slammed the door closed for the second time in the match with a kill as UNW won the set 25-21.
Up 2-1, the Eagles looked to close out the match in the fourth set. UNW took a four-point lead up 9-5 early, and then a five-point lead up 15-10. Northwestern took their largest lead of the set at 21-15, going up by six points then and again at 22-16. At that point, the Vikings started to rally by winning six of the next eight points to get within two down 21-23.
Gabrielle Straub (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) landed a kill to reach match point for the Eagles, but an ensuing service error gave the ball back to the Vikings. Still at match point up 24-22, Northwestern received the Vikings serve and Schmidt hammered home a set-winning kill for the third time in the match to clinch a 25-22 set win, a 3-1 match win, and a First Round win in the NCAA Championship.
Abby Glanzer (Brandon, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) led the Eagles attack with 20 kills in the match. Schmidt followed with 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
Grace Strickfaden (Norwood-Young America, Minn./NYA) let the Eagles with 27 assists with
Felicia Luther (Victoria, Minn./Southwest Christian) following with 16.
Kiera Brown (Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls) had six total blocks for the Eagles; more than the five the Vikings players had collectively.
Marylyn Schroyer (Ft. Collins, Colo./Ft. Collins) led the Eagles defense with 26 digs.
The defensive front for the Eagles proved vital as North Park had 57 kills to Northwestern's 51 but the Eagles had nine team blocks to the Vikings' three.
Up next, No. 4 Northwestern will host No. 14 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the Ericksen Center on Friday night, November 11, at 7:00 P.M. for a Second Round contest in the NCAA Championships at the St. Paul Regional.
