CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Nebraska Wesleyan started the important American Rivers Conference volleyball weekend on a good note Friday night (Oct. 25) with a 3-1 victory over Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
With their win, the Prairie Wolves move into a four-way tie for 3^rd place in the American Rivers Conference standings with a 3-3 league record.  NWU is now 15-7 overall and has two conference matches left to play trying to earn a home match in the postseason tournament for the first time in program history.
 
NWU won the four set match over the Kohawks in scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18. It marks the first time the Prairie Wolves have defeated Coe since joining the new conference four years ago.
 
The Prairie Wolves got off to a good start hitting .231 in set one with 14 kills.  The Kohawks responded with 13 kills in the second set with NWU hitting only .163.
 
In the next two sets the Prairie Wolves hit over .230 to secure the four set victory that is huge in terms of American Rivers Conference standings.
 
Hannah Bellinghausen led the Prairie Wolves with 14 kills, while Cora Svoboda added 12 kills and five blocks.  Whitney Jensen had nine kills and a .333 hitting percentage, while Nyah Chambers added six kills hitting .545.
 
Cassidy Plooster dished out a double-double with 30 assists and 11 digs, while Kelsie Stovall added 22 digs.
 
NWU looks to secure home court in the postseason as they play another key A-R-C match on Saturday at Luther College.