Northwest Goes 2-0 on Day One in Florida
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After traveling over 3,000 miles, Northwest University defeated Texas Wesleyan 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 25-12, 20-25, 15-6) this morning and then swept Warner University (Fla.) 3-0 (27-17, 25-14, 25-22) to open play in the Embry Riddle Labor Day Tournament today.
NU 3, Texas Wesleyan 2
The Eagle got an early wake up call for an 11:30 a.m. game (8:30 a.m. PST) and dropped a close first set to Texas Wesleyan, 25-21. NU battled back from a 16-12 deficit to take a 20-18 lead, but TWU would come back to tie the set twice and would regain the lead for good after the score was knotted at 21-21. Four straight TWU points would give the set to the Rams.
The NU Eagles broke a 10-10 tie to outscore the Rams 10-4 to take a 20-14 lead in the second set as a Mattie Jo Johnson kill and TWU attack error would put Northwest in the win column.
Leading 8-5 in the third set, Northwest would outscore Texas Wesleyan 13-4 to take a commanding 21-9 lead aided by 5 attack errors by the Rams and kills by Rae Ann Haistings and Dakota Adams during the run. Two straight kills by Haistings and a service ace by Leia Roy would put NU up 2-1 in sets.
TWU was determined to make it a five set match in the fourth set as they took an early 10-7 lead and never trailed and force a fifth set.
NU recovered from the 4
th set loss in fine fashion and led the entire fifth set as they cruised to the set and match victory capped off by two Rae Ann Haistings’ kills to help end the match in favor of the Eagles.
Dakota Adams led Northwest U (4-3) with 15 kills hitting .438 for the match. Freshman Amanda Waterman scored a double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs while Christina Gleb led NU with 24 assists followed by Morgan Pilon’s 20 assists. Leia Roy led the Eagles with 22 digs.
“We have a young team, so to travel across the country and play with energy and focus is big time,” commented Steven Bain, NU coach. “I also like how hard the team is working to embrace their roles and execute the small things. The challenge now is to simply keep growing and improving from match to match. If we can do that, we will be able to compete consistently at a high level.”
NU 3, Warner (Fla.) 0
The Eagles would get off to a fast start in their afternoon match with Warner to lead 15-8. Warner would creep back into the set closing the gap to 16-15, but NU would catch fire and go on a 9-2 run to close out the set.
Set two would see NU match their first set start with a 15-9 lead early as they would maintain a comfortable 6 to 8 point lead the remainder of the way as Arika Zwack and Rae Ann Haistings would end the set with their kills to put NU up 2-0.
In the final set, it was Warner refusing to be swept as they would break out to a 14-7 lead. But, NU would come roaring back with a 17-4 run to take a 24-18 lead aided by three Amanda Waterman kills and a service ace by Brooke Riddle. Warner would close to 24-22, but another Waterman kill would end the set and the match to give NU their fifth win of the season.
Waterman led the Eagles (5-3) with 10 kills and her second straight double-double with 15 digs. Senior Rae Ann Haistings added 9 kills while teammate Christina Gleb led the team with 13 assists and Leia Roy added 12 digs. Gleb also led the team with 3 service aces.
Bain said of the Warner win, “We came out against Warner with great energy and did a good job on controlling our composure and communicated well. Our defense was in good spots, especially in the first two sets and we held their defense in check. The third set almost got away from us but we maintained good composure down the stretch and we were able to put the match away.”
Northwest continues play tomorrow with two more matches with Montreat (N.C.) and Grace College (Ind.).