Orange City, Iowa – No. 9 Dakota Wesleyan volleyball falls on the road to No. 6 Northwestern in a tough three set match from the Bultman Center.
The Quick Details
Score:
#9 DWU 0 - #6 NWC 3 (21-25, 20-25, 19-25)
Records:
#9 DWU 20-5 (GPAC 10-4)
#6 NWC 19-6 (GPAC 9-5)
How It Happened
The No. 9 Tigers got off to a slow start in the midweek match as three of DWU's first four points came on Northwestern errors as Mariah Gloe earned the kill. Dakota Wesleyan trailed by as much as 15-4 before head coach Lindsay Wilber called for a timeout to regroup. Once the players took the floor again, DWU went on a 6-0 run cutting the NWC lead to 15-10. The Tigers continued to battle their way back into the set as Mackenzie Miller earned a kill and Callie Slagter tallied a service ace. DWU earned some free points in there as well as the Raiders made several errors setting the Tigers in a two-point deficit, 16-18. The late push by Northwestern was too much for Dakota Wesleyan to overcome as they dropped the opening set 25-21.
Set two was much like the first, as the Tigers were playing from behind the entire time. DWU climbed within three points twice in the set, on kills from Gloe and Miller; 4-7 and 17-20. Late in the set, Emily Dale got the Tigers rolling into a 4-0 run as Abigail Brunsing chipped in to help. After back-to-back attacking errors by NWC, they burnt a timeout to regroup as the Tigers looked to formulate a game plan to keep the run going. The Raiders and Tigers returned to the floor with NWC allowing only four more DWU points from Miller, Brunsing, and Ady Dwight. Dakota Wesleyan dropped into a 2-0 match deficit after NWC grabbed the win of the second set 25-20.
Once again, Dakota Wesleyan played the entire third set from behind. DWU was able to tie the set right away at 4-4, but it was short lived as the Raiders put up four points right after to lead 8-4. It wasn't until midway through the set DWU got rolling and closed the margin to two points, 16-14. The run was huge for the Tigers despite only getting three kills from Miller twice and Slagter; the remaining points were all from NWC errors. As match point loomed over DWU 24-16, the Tigers went on a three-point run, closing the score to 24-19 before the Raiders called timeout and then proceeded to get the final point needed to close the match over DWU.
Overall, DWU hit their lowest of the season at .094 percent with their best hitting percentage coming in the second set at .163 percent. Miller led the team with nine kills as Dwight tallied seven and Brunsing chipped in with five kills. Madeline Else recorded 24 assists and seven digs in the match. While Gloe and Hanna Reiff each went for 19 and 17 digs respectively.
Up Next
No. 9 Tiger volleyball returns home for their senior day match on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Fosness Arena. The Tigers will take on the Mustangs of Morningside as they honor their five seniors in Gloe, Reiff, Dannielle Burns, Miller, and Else.