The women’s volleyball team of Northland International University spent
another long weekend on the road in competition. They began their trip on
Wednesday, September 1, traveling toward Dubuque, Iowa. They played at Emmaus College on
Thursday, September 2, and continued their travel to Faith Baptist Bible College for the “Spikefest” at the Eagles’ gym on Friday and Saturday. Coach Herron commented, “I
know the team is weary, but we need to play these events before classes start in order to give us some good competition and to solidify our group effort.”
Thursday, September 2 – EC, 3–1
This was a first-time contest between
the programs. The Lady Pioneers entered the steamy gym and were exhorted by
Coach Herron to be ready to play. “We have not played this team, and we did not
know how they play,” commented senior Alicia Kellogg. Northland took a small lead at
12–9 in the first set. The host team battled, and Alicia Kellogg kept the
visitors ahead at 21–20 with good serving. Brittany Scott collected a couple of
kills at the net to get a 23–20 lead. Abi Walker added a kill to get to 24–22,
and then another Scott kill gave set #1 to Northland, 25–22. Set two went to the
Pioneers who led throughout, winning 25–13. Set three had Coach Herron give some
playing time to some fresh talent. “We got down in the score, but I knew this would
be a good learning experience. These new players need to experience game
pressure, which is something we can’t always produce in practice.” Northland got down 18–23
and could not recover, losing 18–25. Set four had Northland control up to a 17–11 lead.
A bad rotation with no offense let the home team back in, and the score was
closed to 19–16 in favor of the Pioneers. A couple of EC hitting errors gave Northland
a 22–20 lead. EC closed it to 23–22. An Ellie Hodak and a Chelsea Behn gave the
set and match to the Pioneers 25–23.
Friday, September 3 – OCC, 0–3 and GBC, 3–2
The tournament draw started with Northland
taking on a national tournament qualifier from 2009. The Ozark Christian
College returned almost all starters from a regional win of a year ago. “Coach
Herron tried to warn us to be ready for the elevated play. We have had some
wins, but we found out that we were not playing successful volleyball,” commented Abi
Walker. OCC gave the Pioneers a hard lesson by dismantling them 25–8, 25–9, and
25–21. The second match of the day was against fellow, midwest regional opponent—Grace Bible College. Coach Herron approached this match with some anxiety. “I
know this team has improved and is coached to win. This match will reveal their
improvement and our need to.” Set one had a close score throughout with a 17–17 lead
that GBC pushed to a 23–21 lead. Northland could not generate offense, and GBC won
25–21 in the first set. Set two was another close battle with no more than two or three points separating the teams. Grace pushed a 23–21 lead, and Northland was fortunate to
rotate into a strong front line. Brittany Scott got a couple of kills, and the
Pioneers won with a close 27–25. Set three began as a battle again. The Tigers gained a
19–16 lead that they pushed to a 24–22 lead. A couple of GBC hitting errors let
Northland back in at 24–24. There was a “sideout swap” all the way to 27–27 tie score.
An inability to score in the front row and a Tiger offense gave the advantage
to GBC, 29–27. The Pioneers came out and responded great, getting a 20–12 lead in
set four. Some great defense by Alicia Kellogg, Ellie Hodak, and Rachael Swangim
gave the front line some chances to score, and Northland won 25–14. Set five saw the
Pioneers secure an 8–7 lead on the court switch. A Tiger hitting error and a
Beth Leeds block gave an 11–7 lead to Northland. GBC refused to quit and tied the
score at 12–12. The score was tied again at 13–13. An Ellie Hodak kill gave Northland
a 14–13 lead. Then the Pioneers won the match without even having to play a
ball. The GBC coaching staff called a third time-out as the ball was served. The Tigers walked to the sideline, and a rotation error was called to give the
match to Northland, 15–13. “It was a little bizarre at the end and also unfortunate.
GBC is a vastly improved team, and I do not want to be in their bracket at the
end of the year!” summarized Coach Herron.
Saturday, September 4 – MCC, 0–3 and FBBC, 3–1
On the last day of the weekend, the
Pioneers drew another 2009 national tournament participant—Manhattan
Christian College. Manhattan fielded a team with three solid returners and others
with good athletic talent. MCC had one very strong outside hitter that was
bouncing balls in warm-up. Northland started set one with a competitive effort and
found themselves ahead at 15–12. MCC tied the score at 17–17. Poor serve receive
gave the MCC team a 22–19 lead that they carried to a 25–21 set-one win. Set two had
the Pioneers get behind 10–14 and then only score one more point to the
opponents eleven, falling behind 11–21 and finally losing 14–25. Set three had MCC in a
groove offensively and defensively, winning 25–15. The loss put the Pioneers in
the fifth-place match against the host Eagles from Faith. Coach
Herron encouraged the team to “finish” the weekend of play and “Go Forward.”
Ellie Hodak commented, “We wanted to be in the third-place match but
were determined NOT to be in the last-place match . . . so we knew that we needed to play
strong!”
Set one had Northland control play and take
a 13–6 lead on to a 25–18 win. Set two found the Pioneers falling behind 15–19. An
Abi Walker kill got Northland to within 17–20. Some opponent hitting errors let Northland
back in at 22–23. A Walker ace evened the score at 23–23. A poor defensive play
and a ball handling error handed the set to FBBC, 25–23. Coach Herron warned the
team that the “slice and dice” offense was coming from the Eagle side. Set three
was close up to a 17–17 tie. The Eagles pushed a 23–20 lead, but the Northland defense
stiffened and pulled back to 22–23. An Eagle hitting error and a Brittany
Cournoyer service ace gave the Pioneers a 25–23 win. Set four had Northland jump out to a
15–12 lead. The “tips and cheese” from the FBBC side gave the lead to FBBC,
21–18. Northland played passionately enough to even the score at 21–21. A Beth Leeds
block evened the score at 23–23. With Rachael Swangim serving, Northland scored the next two points on an Eagle hitting error and an ace to give the match win to Northland,
25–23. Ellie Hodak claimed an all-tournament selection for the Pioneers. “My
goal for the team was to be a better group coming out than going in, and I
think that happened. Before we can be better, we need to recognize that we are not as
good as we think we are,” commented Coach Herron. The Pioneers will travel to
Alverno College next week and then will host UW Marathon on Friday, September 11.