Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – It took five sets and comebacks twice, but the Prairie Wolves volleyball team earned a pair of hard fought victories on day two of the Colorado College Classic on Saturday (Sept. 1) in Colorado Springs, Colo. NWU defeated East Texas Baptist 3-2 to start the day then ended the weekend with another 3-2 win over North Central (Ill.).
The Prairie Wolves finished the opened weekend with a 2-2 weekend facing very good NCAA III Competition.
Against East Texas Baptist, the Prairie Wolves won set one 25-23, then dropped the next two sets 25-15 and 25-23. NWU rallied back to win the next two sets 25-22, 15-9 in a match that took well over two hours due to a long delay for an injured East Texas Baptist player.
NWU accounted for 53 kills in the match compared to 65 for East Texas Baptist. The fifth and deciding fifth set was dominated by the Prairie Wolves as they had seven kills and only two errors while ETBU had six kills with five errors.
Kierra Harder and
Hannah Bellinghausen both had 14 total kills to lead the Prairie Wolves. Freshman
Cassidy Plooster dished out 46 total assists with seven digs.
Lizzie Saale led the team with 29 digs.
In the match versus North Central, the Prairie Wolves fell behind 2-0 as NCC won the first two sets 26-24, 25-18. NWU took the next two sets 25-18, 25-22 forcing a fifth set. NWU was dominant in the fifth set winning 15-7 to earn their second straight victory.
NWU took complete control in the fifth set as the Prairie Wolves got out to a 6-0 lead then cruised to the victory. North Central pulled within 7-5 but NWU outscored them 8-2 to close out the win.
Once again, Harder was the team leader in kills with 17 and a .239 hitting percentage. She also recorded eight digs and two aces. Bellinghausen was the other NWU player to reach double figures in kills with 11. Plooster dished out 39 total assists and just missed a double-double with nine digs.
Cera Craven had a team-high 19 digs to lead the team. Saale had 14 and Kelsie Stoval recorded 13.
Kierra Harder and
Cassidy Plooster were both selected to the All-Tournament Team.
