Viterbo Volleyball falls to #8 Northwestern College

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Viterbo University Women's Volleyball team, ranked #8 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, traveled to Iowa and battled #8 Northwestern College. The V-Hawks fell to the Red Raiders 0-3 (14-25, 24-26, 17-25) on Tuesday.

Viterbo went on a five-point streak early in set one with two kills by Kenzie Winker and a service ace by Adrianna Reinhart, 6-4. After a handful of errors by the V-Hawks, the Raiders pushed forward taking the lead 10-13. Northwestern stretched their lead 12-19 with a kill by Alysen Dexter and multiple team blocks. The Raiders went on to put up five points in a row making the score 24-13 and ended the set 25-14 with a kill by Bekah Horstman.

The teams traded points in the beginning of set two tieing the game 8-8. A kill by Grace Rohde helped give the V-Hawks a slight lead but the Raiders came back strong tieing the game a second time and gaining the lead 14-16. Viterbo's Martina McGrath contributed three kills while Lauryn Sobasky added a service ace to take back the lead 20-18. Northwestern went on a four-point streak and forced a timeout by Viterbo with the score at 20-22. The teams traded points and tied the game 24-24. The Raiders took set two with an error by Viterbo and a kill by Jazlin De Haan, 24-26. 

Northwestern took a big lead in set three 1-10 with two kills by De Haan and two service aces. Viterbo broke the run with a block by Calkins and Winker but the Raiders stretched their lead 5-18 with multible blocks and a kill by Horstman. Viterbo answered with multiple kills and service aces by Taylor Larson and Maddie Connor bringing their score up 11-19. The teams traded points until Viterbo put up a five-point streak with kills by Winker and Rohde, leading to a Northwestern timeout 17-22. The Raiders came back on the floor strong ending the game 17-25 with a service ace by Olivia Granstra.

Lauryn Sobaskey contributed 19 assists on the night followed by Cailie Kowal with 14. Kenidi McCabe led the team with 14 digs. Grace Rohde put up 11 kills for the night.

Northwestern's Jazlin De Haan led the team with 12 kills while Bekah Horstman contributed 8 block assists. Olivia Granstra had 14 digs on the night. Liv Reitsma added 29 total assists for the Raiders.

The V-Hawks drop to 13-6 while the Raiders advance to 12-4. Viterbo will remain on the road and travel to North Dakota to take on the Mayville State University Comets on Friday, September 30th at 6:00PM CST.