Volleyball Top Stories

 

NSU Hitters Down Peacocks In Regular Season Finale

October 28, 2006	1	2	3	4
Upper Iowa	18	30	25	20
Northern State	30	24	30	30

ABERDEEN, SD - Sophomore middle hitter Kelsey Aden posted a career high 20 kills in NSU's 3-1 win over Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon. The win rounds out the Wolves' regular season schedule and sends them into the NSIC tournament having won five of their last six matches.

The Wolves hit .228 on the match, their third best team performance of the season. The squad hit .268 in game 1, while the Peacocks committed 15 hitting errors on their way to a -.122 average. A sloppy game 2 ensued and the Wolves entered the break with the match split at one game each.

NSU tightened their game as the match continued and eventually took the win in four games, 30-18, 24-30, 30-25, and 30-20. Blocking was once again a key to the Wolves' success, with five NSU players combining for 16 total team blocks, just shy of their season high 18.0 block record posted against Winona State on September 9.

Aden led the team with her 20 kills and a .410 hitting average. She also came up with seven blocks (1 BS, 6 BA). Jill Rasmussen and Heather Pudwill were the other blocking leaders, totaling eight and nine blocks each, respectively. Emily Knaeble punched out 17 kills and had 12 digs, while Melanie Perez led the defense with 20 digs. Kellie Heier had 49 assists and 19 digs on the match.

The Peacocks were led in the hitting department by Darcy Hageman with 16 kills. Shea Meyermann had 10 ki9lls and 19 digs. Stephanie Smith led all players with 29 digs. UIU hit at a rate of .075 and had 7.0 team blocks.

The Wolves improve to 16-12 on the season and wrap up NSIC play with a 10-8 record. The Peacocks fall to 6-25 overall and 2-16 in the league. The Wolves will travel to the NSIC Tournament next weekend, hosted by Concordia-St. Paul. Brackets, opponents, and playing times will be announced soon.