The No. 6 NAIA ranked Northwestern volleyball team defeated the Briar Cliff Chargers in three sets on Wednesday, Oct. 8. The win gives NW its seventh consecutive sweep in conference play and also a 21-2 overall record. NW emerged victorious with scores of 27-17, 25-19 and 25-21.
The offense was sharp in set one as the Raiders tallied up 15 kills on 40 attempts on a .300 hitting percentage. Senior defensive specialist Alexis Bart led the way to a 5-0 run early on her serves to help set the stage for the remainder of the set.
“We knew Briar Cliff was going to come out wanting to play,” senior outside hitter Kaitlin Floerchinger said. “But we also knew our tempo was quicker, so we pushed it to our level immediately.”
After a tie at 12, NW managed to take a lead over Briar Cliff and had the score at 21-19 after a Charger timeout. Freshman outside hitter Jessica Van Beek came up big in crunch time to trigger a 4-0 run to finish out the set 25-19.
The Raiders never trailed in set three to finish out the sweep.
Floerchinger recorded a match-high 15 kills. Junior rightside hitter Karlie Schut added 13 kills and junior outside hitter Haley Chambers had seven kills. Junior middle hitter Payton Samuelson notched a match-high four blocks. Junior setter Brooke Fessler lofted up 36 assists and Bart recorded 21 digs as well as two aces.
“We were clicking both offensively and defensively,” Floerchinger said. “And when that happens, it’s a lot more fun and harder to stop.”
NW will return to action next Wednesday, Oct. 15 against visiting Mount Marty. The match will begin at 7:30 p.m.
