LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Wesleyan picked up their second conference victory of the season on Friday night (Sept. 30) as the Prairie Wolves defeated Luther College, 3-1, in an Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Snyder Arena.
 
The Prairie Wolves won the first two sets 25-16, 26-24, then Luther won set three 25-18 before NWU closed out the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set.  With the win, NWU improves to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in IIAC action, while Luther drops to 13-5 and 1-1- in conference play.
 
NWU came out the gates firing in the first set jumping out to a 8-2 advantage and they never trailed in the opening set.  The closest Luther got was four points at 10-6, but NWU kept their foot on the gas and roled to the win.
 
Once again the Prairie Wolves got out to a quick 7-2 lead in the 2^nd set.  This time, Luther responded as they rallied back to tie the score at 13-13.  From there, the Norse went on a 5-3 run and got ahead 18-15.  They held onto the lead at 23-20 until NWU answered back.  Kierra Harder notched a kill, then Luther had an error making the score 23-22.  Now it was Karrie Sestak's turn to take over the match as she got back-to-back kills to setup set point.  Luther did tie the match at 24-24, but Sestak joined Hannah Bellinghausen on a block for the next set point.  This time, NWU sealed the set as once again Sestak slammed the ball to the floor with a kill to put NWU ahead 2-0.
 
Set three was all Luther as they led 6-0 early, using four straight aces by Sam Sixday.  The lead was up to 10-1 as the Norse never trailed in set three.  NWU did make it interesting as they got within five at 21-6, but that was as close as they got.
 
With the score 13-10 in the fourth set, the Prairie Wolves went on a 6-2 run to pull ahead 19-12.   Luther did not go away as they closed the gap to 23-22.  Hannah Bellinghausen recorded a kill to give the Prairie Wolves set point and fittingly it was Sestak again that made the game-winning as sje teamed up with Malory Dahl for a block and the win.
 
NWU had three players in double digits in kills led by Kierra Harder with 13 and a .270 hitting percentage.  Malory Dahl had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs with five block assists.  Karrie Sestak hit .364 with 11 kills and six block assists to lead the team with 16 points.  Taylor Crandall dished out 47 assists with 10 digs for a double-double, while Kennedy Hegert had 29 digs.
 
Luther finished with 14 total blocks on the night with 46 kills but hit only .085 as a team.  Three different players finished with 11 kills.
 
The Prairie Wolves are right back in action on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 1) as they host Wartburg College in the third home match of the week.