Raiders pull above .500 in GPAC play

The Raider volleyball team was very active this week, defeating Mount Marty on Wednesday night, and splitting two road matches this weekend, sweeping Concordia on Friday before losing in five sets to Midland on Saturday.
Against Mount Marty, Northwestern submitted a dominant performance, sweeping the Lancers 3-0. The games were 25-17, 25-11 and 25-15.
“Our serving and passing were much better,” said coach Kyle Van Den Bosch. “We had very few errors, and a lot of kills, which was big for us. It always feels good to win, and I thought we played really well.”
Northwestern played a very clean match, receiving 40 out of 42 serves while hitting .370, as opposed to Mount Marty’s .050. Junior Jennie Jansen had 13 kills to lead the Raiders. Freshman Kaitlin Floerchinger had 32 assists to go with her three aces from the service line.
On Saturday afternoon, Northwestern went up against a tough Midland team and lost a heartbreaker in five sets, (25-21, 18-25, 25-12, 14-25, 15-11) despite outhitting the Warriors.
Freshman Katelyn Kragt and sophomore middle hitter Megan Hutson both had 11 kills on the match, and Kaitlin Floerchinger lofted up 30 assists.
“As a whole, I felt really good about the team effort. I was pleased with the team’s effort, but a couple breaks here and there, and we got it,” said Van Den Bosch.
Hutson took a more optimistic view of the Midland match.
“We usually have better stats than our opponents but many more mistakes,” Hutson said. “This is actually a positive thing because that means we just have a young team and haven’t quite gelled yet, but it also means we have great potential. What we could have done differently to win in the fifth game against Midland is have confidence in our play. I definitely think we are the better team. No doubt.”
Against Concordia, the Raiders presented a strong showing and came away with a 3-0 victory, going 25-22, 25-17 and 25-21. The Raiders hit .167 and held Concordia below .100. Setter Kaitlin Floerchinger put up 25 assists during the match.
Senior Kate Boersma and Huston had nine kills apiece; senior Rylee Hulstein added seven of her own.
Freshman Mikinzie Phillips and junior Heather Goehring both served two aces. Goehring also tied with freshman Alexis Bart to led the Raiders with 14 digs.
“Everyone was excited to play,” said Kaitlin Floerchinger. “We came out excited and ready go, which is important to do in a conference game. Passing went exceptionally well, and if the pass is there, everything else works. We were also very scrappy, which led us to be more aggressive as a whole.”
The Raiders will face Nebraska Wesleyan next on Friday at home. First serve is at 7:30 p.m.