SIOUX CITY, Iowa – No. 18 LC State opened play at the final site of the 2025 NAIA Women's Volleyball National Championship with a tough matchup against No. 3 Northwestern (Iowa). The Red Raiders, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, swept the No. 23-seed Warriors by scores of 25-18, 25-14, 25-22.
Taylor Boyce, Mikale Roy and Karissa Lindner stepped up to fuel the offense with eight kills each while libero Ella Stosich led the contest with 14 digs.
The Warriors need a victory over 15
th-seeded No. 21 Aquinas (Mich.) on Thursday to keep the chance of advancing to the quarterfinals alive.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Boyce notched a kill for the first point of the contest before a block by Juliauna Forgach Aguilar and Teagan Scott, kill by Lindner and ace by Makenzie Stout gave the Warriors a 6-1 edge. Northwestern rallied with 10-1 run to pull ahead 11-7. Kills by freshmen Jordynn Albright and Michaela Romine had the difference at 17-13, and LC State tallied four straight points with an ace by Kadence Moore and block by Roy and Lindner. The Raiders hung on to take the set 25-18.
Northwestern opened the second frame with a 4-1 run before kills by Abby Beaton and Roy cut the deficit to 5-4. Roy added two more kills to keep the score within two, 8-6, and swings by Lindner and Boyce had the margin at 12-8 in favor of Northwestern. LC State saw back-to-back kills by Lindner and Roy out of a timeout, but NC surged for a 25-14.
The Raiders carried their momentum into the third frame with a 4-0 run, but blocks by Roy, Beaton and Albright cut the difference to 4-3. Kills by Beaton, Lindner and Roy cut into a big run to bring the Warriors within four, 12-8, and a kill by Roy and NC errors had the score at 13-11. Lindner and Boyce went back-to-back and another termination by Boyce kept the difference within one, 15-14. Boyce, Roy and Forgach Aguilar added kills to cut the margin to 21-20 and swings by Lindner and Beaton made it 23-22, but Northwestern struck for two straight points to end the match 25-22.
STAT RECAP
Boyce, Roy and Lindner tied for the team lead with eight kills each with Lindner doing so at a clip of .263. Scott dished out 13 assists and Esther Kailiponi added 12.
Stosich led the contest with 14 digs and Scott notched a double-double with 10 digs. Beaton, Scott, Roy and Lindner each assisted on two blocks.
UP NEXT
The Warriors take on Aquinas on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT in Sioux City. LC State needs a victory over the Saints, and an Aquinas win over Northwestern, to force a tiebreaker in Pool B.
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