Mitchell, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan Tigers fell in three straight sets against the No. 3 Northwestern Red Raiders. DWU played NWC close in set one and two but couldn't come up with the plays down the stretch to keep with the Raiders. Northwestern entered Mitchell coming off a 3-0 victory against No. 1 Concordia, who at the time was undefeated. Northwestern came in with a clear plan to limit Ady Dwight with her 10 kills and make Kayleigh Hybertson go elsewhere with the set which Abigail Brunsing with seven and Logan Bly with six did a nice job of that for DWU. Tya Weideman had a very respectful performance in the back row against the high-powered Raiders attack with her 17 digs. Alexis O'Reilly saw her first varsity minutes and didn't shy away from the moment against the top-5 Raiders.
The Tigers knew coming into the match that Northwestern gets a large portion of their points off the block, with them being at the top in blocks per set. DWU did a great job in the first set avoiding and attacking the NWC block. The Raiders did not record a block tell the 21-20 point in the set with DWU holding the slim one-point lead. Dakota Wesleyan held a lead for most of the set, with their largest lead being at four and even holding a late 21-18 lead, drawing a NWC timeout. The Raiders responded with three straight points forcing Wilber to take a timeout of her own with the score at 21 all. DWU regained the lead out of the timeout with a kill from Bly, but the Raiders put their foot down their and closed out the Tigers on a 4-0 run for a 25-22 set one win.
Set two was all the Raiders who held the Tigers to a season-low eight points in the set. Dakota Wesleyan really struggled against the Raider block in the second set, as well as getting touches on the NWC attacks. The Raiders had a game-high .500 attack percentage with their 16 kills and only two errors compared to the Tigers' game-low of -.107 with their five kills and eight errors (six coming off the block).
Set three was a very similar narrative to set one, with DWU holding the lead for most of the set. Dakota Wesleyan amped up their play in the back row getting dig after dig of the NWC high-powered offensive attack. This stellar play in the led to the Raiders recording a set low .157 attack percentage with only 14 kills on 57 attempts. DWU held a 21-17 lead late in the set and were looking like they might run away with it and close the Raiders out. However, the Raiders got their block going again when they needed it most with four blocks down the stretch and closed DWU out with eight straight points for a 25-21 set three and match win.
The Quick Details vs. Northwestern
Score:
(RV) DWU 0 – NWV 3 (22-25 8-25, 21-25)
Records
(RV) DWU 17-13 (6-7 GPAC)
NWC 20-2 (11-2 GPAC)
Up Next
The Tigers are back on the court for senior day Wednesday, October 25 against Briar Cliff with first serve at 7:30 p.m.