The No. 5 Northwestern women’s volleyball team beat Dordt in commanding fashion in the GPAC semi-final game on Wednesday, 3-0. Individual scores were 25-15, 25-22, 25-11. The women who are 34-1 on the year, won in three games, and will now advance to the GPAC championship for the first time since 2010.
With much anticipation following a couple five-game thrillers from earlier this season, including a come-from-behind win at home, NW set the tone early and won the first game by nine, 25-16.
“We have a really broad spectrum of players,” junior Kaitlin Floerchinger saud. “We have girls that we can put in at any position, and people that have a more specialized individual position.”
NW kept on the attack in the second game, however Dordt retaliated. After starting with and maintaining a five point advantage in the game, Dordt went on a run to bring the score to 23-22. A block by sophomore Payton Samuelson and a kill from sophomore Karlie Schut ended that game 25-22 to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead.
In the third game, NW won convincingly 25-11, with 11 kills in 22 attempts and no errors.
“We are really bonding and enjoying this ride together,” Floerchinger said. “Everybody is playing for each other, and right now we have a really good team.”
Schut lead northwestern with 13 kills, and also had 2.5 blocks. Floerchinger and sophomore Hailey Chambers each had eight kills on the night. Freshman Kellie Goedken had six kills. Samuelson finished with a team-high 3.5 blocks. Sophomore setter Brooke Fessler had 34 assists, four kills and five digs. Junior Alexis Bart led the back row with 16 digs.
“We are having a lot of fun right now,” Floerchinger said. “I think we are in a really good spot going forward. We still have that fighting spirit, and we want to get there. None of us on the team except for the seniors have been to nationals, and it is a really good opportunity for us to succeed.”
The women will play Saturday at 7:30 pm in a home game against No. 6 Midland to decide GPAC Tournament champs.
