ST. PAUL, Minn. – The seventh-seeded University of Northwestern (Minn.) took down the second-seeded St. Olaf College volleyball team in four sets (15-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-23) in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship on Thursday evening at Schoenecker Arena.
After dropping the first set, Northwestern (25-8) won each of the final three sets by two points to upend St. Olaf (26-6) and advance to face the third-seeded College of Saint Benedict in Friday's regional semifinals. The Oles were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2010.
The Eagles used a balanced offensive attack featuring four student-athletes in double figures in kills, led by 13 kills from Kendra Hardy. Kalley Schwitters, Jenay Fuglestad and Anna Gasch each tallied 11 kills for Northwestern, which hit .211 in the match. Marylyn Schroyer recorded 31 digs, while Sydney Schwitters handed out 50 assists.
Senior
Lauren Rewers posted a match-high 20 kills to go with 15 digs in her final collegiate match, reaching double figures in kills for the 15th match in a row. Juniors
Morgan Marxer and
Summer Reid had 11 kills apiece for the Oles. Senior
Emily Jarnigan made a match-high 33 digs to close out her career, with junior
Lexi Wall registering a 44-assist, 11-dig double-double.
St. Olaf broke a 10-10 tie in the first set with a 6-1 run that included three kills from Rewers and gave the Oles a lead they would not relinquish. Leading 20-15, the Oles ran away with the set by winning the final five points, as Rewers had five kills on eight errorless swings in the set.
Early in the second set, Northwestern went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 14-5 lead, forcing a pair of early timeouts by St. Olaf. Trailing 19-12, the Oles won six-straight points to get within one, 19-18, but the Eagles won the next four points to push their lead back to five, 23-18. After Northwestern brought up set points at 24-21, the Oles saved three set points in a row to tie it at 24-24, only for Northwestern to close out the set on consecutive kills by Fuglestad and Soleil Newland.
After taking a 9-7 lead early in the third, St. Olaf led by between one and three points until a late Northwestern rally tied the set at 23-23. Out of a timeout by the Oles, the Eagles got a kill from Kalley Schwitters to get to set point, which St. Olaf saved on a Northwestern attack error, but another kill from Kalley Schwitters and an ace by sister Sydney Schwitters gave the Eagles a two-sets-to-one lead.
The Eagles opened up a 10-4 advantage early at the start of the fourth set before the Oles won four-straight points to get back with two. Northwestern pushed its lead back up to seven, 18-11, later in the set, but St. Olaf again responded with a 4-0 run that included two aces by first year
Selena Rodriguez. The Oles got within a point on three occasions late in the set, including a Lannom ace off the tape that kept St. Olaf alive at 24-23, before Kalley Schwitters sealed the win for Northwestern with a kill.
Wall's 44 assists in the loss gave her 1,392 in her junior season, which is the ninth-highest single-season total in program history, while Jarnigan's 33 digs gave her a total of 687, which ranks third all-time at St. Olaf. Rewers concluded her career fourth in program history with 1,479 kills.
St. Olaf's 26 victories were the program's most since the 2010 team that finished 31-5 and advanced to the regional final. The Oles' four-member senior class helped St. Olaf win 81 matches over their careers, including 71 over the last three seasons.
