Biola and Northwestern Win in Pool C
Dec. 2, 2009
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Tenth-seeded Biola (Calif.) and third-seeded Northwestern (Iowa) were victorious in Pool C Wednesday in the second day of pool play action at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Presented by Siouxland Sports Medicine Foundation in the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.
Biola jumped out to a 25-17 first set win and never looked back, as the Eagles shut out Shawnee State (Ohio), winning the next two sets 25-19, 25-18. Kelsey Christoferson led the way for Biola with 10 kills on 17 swings for a .588 clip. Directing the offense was Justine Schoneveld with 32 assists and Katie Stevens provided a solid defense with 18 digs. Shawnee State was held to a .085 hitting percentage and committed 26 hitting errors. Heather Koehler posted a match-high 13 kills on 25 attempts. The win puts Biola at 1-1 in the pool, while Shawnee State falls to 0-2.
Northwestern came from two sets down to defeat Indiana Tech in five, 15-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12. The five-setter is only the second match through two days of action in which the decisive set has been needed. Indiana Tech came out hitting a blazing .520 in the first set and followed with a .233 performance in the second set. The Warriors forced Northwestern into eight hitting errors on 10 attempts in the first set, limiting the Red Raiders to a .062 hitting percentage. Northwestern picked up the third set and went to work in the fourth, hitting .394 and had only two hitting miscues.
Three Red Raiders finished with double-digit kills, led by Hillary Hanno with 25. The Hulstein duo of Randa and Rylee finished with double-doubles. Randa closed out the match with 14 kills and 10 digs, while Rylee posted 11 kills and 12 digs. Kaitlin Beaver fed the offense with 54 assists. For the Warriors, it was Ashley Hamilton leading the attack with 22 kills, hitting .386. Erika Stouder had a 10-kill showing, hitting .474 in the match.
Pool C will wrap up Thursday with Shawnee State taking on Indiana Tech at 5:45 p.m., followed by Northwestern clashing with Biola at 8 p.m.
