Sport in world

Westerwinds earn key 3-2 victory over North Dakota State

November 30, 2007 on 9:50 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. Senior Amy Sauerwein tallied a career-high 25 kills to help lead the Western Illinois volleyball team to a key Summit League victory over North Dakota State, 3-2 (28-30, 30-28, 30-32, 30-11, 17-15) in Brophy Hall. The Westerwinds (14-12, 10-3 Summit League) are now in a four-way tie for first in the conference standings with IPFW, Oral Roberts and South Dakota State.

Fellow senior Michelle Donnelly was also key to the victory as she contributed a career-high 22 kills and tied a career-high with 10 total blocks.

“We stayed calm tonight,” said head coach Kym McKay. “It was a great game five for two teams battling for a conference championship. When we are relaxed and focused we are a good team and that is what we were able to do tonight at the key moments.”

Game five was a thriller as the teams combined for 13 tie scores and three lead changes, with no team leading by more than two points the entire game. The Bison (17-7, 9-4 Summit League) took an 8-7 lead into the side switch, but Donnelly recorded a kill to tie the game at eight. The Westerwinds were forced to battle back from NDSU match point twice before tying the game at 15. Junior Sarah Trimpe then recorded her lone service ace for the night to give Western its own match point. The Bison’s Christy Stuewe handed the Westerwinds the game with an attack error.

The first game of the match was a back and forth battle as NDSU pulled away with a five-point lead at 17-12, but Western battled back to close the gap to one point at 22-21. The Westerwinds tied the game at 27, but were unable to get ahead as the Bison garnered the next three points to take the victory.

In game two it was the opposite as Western pulled out to lead by as many as four points before North Dakota State pulled back to within one point at 27-26. The teams then traded serves, but Western kept enough of a lead to earn the two-point victory.

The Westerwinds started out game three strong with an early 4-1 advantage before the Bison tied it at four. The team’s volleyed back and forth for the lead until NDSU’s Brooke VandenBergh recorded a service error and junior Monique Houston then rattled off eight-straight serves to give Western a 7-0 lead. Western then saw its lead diminish as NDSU fought back and tied the game at 27. The score then volleyed back and forth until the Bison took the extra-point game with kills by Nicole Sheridan and Stuewe.

“Game three was disappointing,” said McKay. “When you are in a battle with a caliber of team like North Dakota State you need to stay focused from the beginning of the match until the last ball hits the floor.”

Game four was close until Sauerwein started a 15-0 run with a kill. Trimpe then recorded 16-striaght serves to give the Westerwinds a 23-7 advantage. Western then allowed the Bison to record just four more points during the game.

Defense was key for the Westerwinds victory as they tallied 125 digs and 13 total blocks. Western had six players record double-digits in the digs column, while the Bison saw 10+ performances from four players and recorded just nine total blocks.

The Westerwinds face South Dakota State, Saturday, November 3 at 6 p.m. in Brophy Hall for the final home match of the 2007 season. The night will feature a tribute to Western’s three seniors prior to the first serve.

Notes: Western saw double-digit performances from five players, Sauerwein (25), Donnelly (22), Houston (14), senior Ashley Baker (12), and sophomore Erin Frick (12)…Trimpe tallied a career-high 78 assists for the Westerwinds…sophomore Lindsay Muehlbauer garnered a career-high 29 digs…Western is now 7-2 in five-game matches…the Westerwinds saw double-digit digs performances from six players.

Originaly from Source