The weekend started on Friday night with a match against Mount Mary College from Milwaukee. “The Lady Blue Angels have improved their play and program. Coach Kelsi Miller is to be commended in what she has accomplished,” complimented Coach Herron prior to the match. NI responded to the beginning of the challenge in front of them and took a 20–12 lead in the first set. Great defensive and offensive conversions increased the set one lead to 23–17, and NI won by 25–17 in the end. MMC responded and won the next set, 25–20. Set three had the visitors win confidently by 25–19. Set four had NI stay close and get a 17–14 lead. The score was tied at 18–18, 19–19, and 21–21. Hitting errors hurt the offense and the ability to score as two straight hitting errors handed the match to MMC at 26–24. Coach Herron said, “It is frustrating to see a set in our control just disappear with poor choices by hitters. We have to do something more than just be . . . tall, strong, or quick. We can’t minimize our ability to play or amplify our opponent’s ability by careless errors.” The second match of the evening was against a common midwest regional member, Grace Bible College. These teams have played three previous times and were successful each time. GBC is a very motivated team and wants to win badly. NI was ready for the battle and pushed leads of 19–8 and 24–12. A Tiger serving error gave set one to the Pioneers, 25–14. Set two had the score close from 12–12 to 16–16. “We had one OH that was really struggling so I was trying to find an answer to that,” said Coach Herron. Beth Leeds served the team to a 29–17 lead. Abi Walker put a ball away, and the lead was 23–21. At this point things looked good for the home team. Coach Herron had what he thought were the right players on defense, and then “one of our best defenders just watches a ball fall uncontested.” The momentum and the lead were lost, and NI lost set two, 23–25. NI corrected the focus and won the next two sets, 25–12 and 25–18. Coach Herron commented at the end of the evening, “We are not good enough to relax. This team I’m driving cannot rely on cruise control. We need to keep our foot down and make the effort.” Abi Walker was the leading setter with a 15.3 assist average for the evening. Ellie Hodak was the leading attacker with a .212 attack percentage, averaging 4.5 kills for the evening. Alicia Kellogg was the best defender without a doubt, getting 15 digs per match and passing at .91 percent efficiency.
Day two had Kuyper College (MI) and Emmaus College (IA) come onto campus to join Grace Bible for the day. The Pioneers would play back to back to back matches at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Brittany Scott commented, “We wanted to play well and go three and out in each match. We knew it would be hard, but it was our goal.” The first match was against GBC again, and NI won 25–18, 25–13, and 25–16. Brittany Scott was the best attacker with 14 kills and a .444 attack average. Alicia Kellogg was again the best passer and defender in leading the NI team. Match two had NI competing against Kuyper College from Michigan. The Lady Pioneers started well with 25–15 and 25–19 scores in the first two sets. Set three had the teams battle to an 11–11 tie. An Abi Walker kill, an Ellie Hodak kill, and a Beth Leeds block gave NI a 15–11 margin. The lead was increased to 20–16. Alicia Kellogg was doing all she could on defense and serve receive to give the home team a chance. The lead earned was wasted by poor blocking, and the score was 20–19. NI responded with a Leeds block and a KC hitting error for a 24–22 lead. The NI defense then depended on their “ghost defender,” and KC scored an easy point to close it to 24–23. Brittany Scott finished the match with a kill for a 25–23 score.
The last match of the weekend was against visiting Emmaus College from Iowa. This team will be joining the MWR group next semester. The Eagles are enjoying a successful year with a 12–8 record. The Pioneers were determined to “finish it off.” EC came out strong and gained a 12–7 lead over the home team Pioneers. NI began to chip away at the lead and went ahead at 16–15 on a Leeds block, a Hodak kill, and a Walker ace. The set one score was tied from this point four times up to 23–23. A Brittany Scott kill and a Beth Leeds block gave set one to NI, 25–23. Set two was again a battle up to 16–16. Ellie Hodak put NI up 21-20 with a kill. A Brittany Cournoyer kill gave the Pioneers a 24–22 lead. An EC hitting error handed NI set two, 25–22. Coach Herron tried the lighthearted approach going into the next set and encouraged the team to “just keep rowing.” “I smiled and laughed with them and said we are almost done – let’s go!” The score was 13–7, quickly gained with Beth Leeds and Ellie Hodak patrolling the net. The match ended with a Walker kill, a Leeds block, a Hodak kill, and a 25–12 score. Coach Herron summarized, “I am so pleased with this team. They have responded to my expectations and have overachieved from the beginning. This weekend we overcame some positions being nonproductive and others stepped forward. Alicia Kellogg was our MVP this weekend at the libero position – very consistent. I feel very good about our chances next weekend at the MWR tournament. Our first opponent is a team we know very well.”