Last Tuesday, Northwestern and Dordt began something that is larger than athletics. The meeting between the two volleyball teams marked the beginning of the Sioux County Showdown Series, which awards points to each school for their matchups across all sports and supports an end-goal of raising $5,000 this year for Hunger Free Kids of Sioux County. Dordt took the first points for the event as the 12th-ranked Defenders defeated the 16th-ranked NW in four sets.
The Red Raiders started strong as they refused to give up the lead throughout the first set, winning 25-15. Senior Lauryn Hilger and Sophomore Josie Blankespoor each had four kills in the set. Following set one, Dordt also used strong starts to claim wins in the second and third sets. The fourth and final set remained close, as NW used a 6-point scoring streak to pull within 1 point of the Defenders. However, Dordt used a 4-point streak to carry themselves to a 25-19 win.
Northwestern was led by Hilger, who finished with 16 kills and 3 aces, followed by Bekah Horstman, totaling 9 kills and 3 blocks. Lacey Wacker also finished with 39 assists. Ema Altena totaled 16 kills in the win for Dordt as they were also led by Jamie De Jager with 45 assists.
The Raiders bounced back on Saturday, sweeping Jamestown 3-0. NW will continue their conference schedule this week versus Mount Marty and Dakota Wesleyan in Orange City and then travel to face Concordia on Saturday.
The GPAC standings have NW in 5th place with an overall record of 11-4, going 2-1 so far in conference play.
