On Oct. 31, the Raiders took on the Midland University Warriors in a conference volleyball matchup.
Before the varsity match, five Northwestern seniors, along with their parents and families, were recognized.
Going into the game, the Raiders were 10-2 in the conference (12-2 overall) while Midland was 6-5 in the conference (7-6 overall).
Midland proved to be tough during the first two sets, winning 25-23 and 25-19. This didn’t stop the Raiders from obtaining the victory. Even being down in the first two sets, the Raiders went on to win the final three sets 25-18, 27-25, and 15-10, giving them a win over the Warriors.
Leading the Raiders to this victory were Makenzie Fink with 17 kills, two aces and five blocks; Anna Wedel with 12 kills, two aces, three blocks, two assists and 11 digs; Emily Van Ginkel with 11 kills and five blocks; AJ Kacmarynski with seven kills and one block; Lacey Reitz with 45 assists and eight digs; Emily Strasser with two assists and 24 digs; Olivia Granstra with 10 digs; and Macey Van’t Hul with seven blocks.
The Raiders comeback had its intense moments, which peaked during the fourth set when both teams were faced with two match- points, both of which were in favor of the Warriors.
The Warriors had the lead with the second match point at 25-24 until Reitz and Van Ginkel worked together to tie up the score. Taylor Meyer served for the Raiders to give them their 27-25 set-four win with help from Van Ginkel, Reitz and Wedel consecutively blocking any attempt by the Warriors to win the set.
Set five wasn’t without drama with the beginning being tight. There were also seven tie points and three lead changes. Wedel provided back-to-back kills that gave the Raiders the lead for the rest of the set, pulling away from the tie. The set ended with six points being scored, five of which were scored by the Raiders.
With the 3-2 set win for NW, the Raiders moved to 11-2 in the conference and 13-2 overall while the Midland Warriors dropped to 6-6 in the conference and 7-7 overall.
