The volleyball team added another win to their nineteen-game streak in the GPAC Tournament Championship. The game Saturday, Nov. 14, against Doane created tension with close match scores, four lead changes and ten total ties.
The first game finished off at 25-23 after a tie at 22.
The second set started off with Northwestern behind but they fought hard and tied it up at 14, and again at 18. Then, down 24-20, the Raiders battled back to take the second set 26-24, for another close win.
To finish off the match the Raiders pulled out a 25-22 win.
NW finishes with an overall record of 33-2. They have been named both regular season and GPAC Tournament champions, the first time since 1996.
Along with the GPAC wins, senior Randa Hulstein has been named GPAC Player-of-the-Year.
Junior Hillary Hanno states that “This is the best team that we’ve had in a long time and we definitely have a shot [to win] this year.”
Upcoming practices will work towards stepping up the level of play so that they are completely ready to compete above and beyond what they have done thus far. Attributing success to skill alone, however, would not give credit to the “really good coaching staff that knows what they’re doing” according to Hanno.
Thie Week, Head Coach Kyle Van Den Bosch won Coach-of-the-Year for the third year in a row and the team’s achievements reflect that.
The next game will take place in the 32-team National Tournament which starts Dec. 1. in Sioux City. Game dates and times have not been announced.