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NCAA Tournament Bound! Northwestern beats St. Scholastica 3-0 in UMAC Tournament championship
Story and Photo Courtesy of the Northwestern College Athletics Site
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DULUTH, Minn. -- The Northwestern College volleyball team became
the second Eagle squad to earn an automatic berth into its
respective NCAA Tournament on Saturday, defeating the College of
St. Scholastica 3-0, just hours after the NWC women's soccer team
punched its ticket to the big dance.
Northwestern, the No. 2 seed in the UMAC
Tournament, took care of business in less than an hour on
their chief rival's home court, winning 25-15, 25-20, 25-14.
Senior setter Leah Kostek (West Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines
Christian) was named the tournament's most valuable player
following the final point.
Every part of NWC's game was working, and working well.
Chelsea Koth (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) and Elissa Sandstrom
(Cloquet, Minn./Carlton) took care of the offense with 13 and 11
kills, respectively. Sandstrom and several teammates were
almost always there to put a hand in the face of St. Scholastica's
Anna Zyvoloski or Paige Hardy. If the Saints got a look,
Kelsey Korporal (Sumner, Iowa/Sumner-Fredericksburg) and Danielle
Rhodes (Iowa City, Iowa/City) were usually there to dig the
attack. But the one who really stepped up was Kostek, who
left St. Scholastica guessing as to who she was going to set.
The senior ended the night with 34 assists while leading the Eagles
to a team hitting percentage of .367.
Zyvoloski finished the match with 11 kills for the Saints, who
struggled offensively at .099. Northwestern wrapped things up
with seven team blocks, keeping Hardy, last year's UMAC Rookie of
the Year, below a zero percent attacking rate.
The Eagles, now 26-13 on the season, will closely watch an NCAA
selection show on Monday at 10 a.m. to see where and when they
will play in Friday's first round of the 63-field tournament.
Watch the
selection show here. More information about the show and
the NCAA Tournament will be posted on nwceagles.com when it becomes
available.
