Dec. 5, 2008

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Northwestern (Iowa) defeated Bellevue (Neb.), 3-1, in the playoff round match to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2008 NAIA Volleyball National Championship.  The Red Raiders will face No. 2 Biola (Calif.) today at 6 p.m.

Northwestern won the first games 25-23 and 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.  Bellevue got back in with 25-23 victory in game-three.  The Red Raiders bounced back in game-four and cruised to a 25-13 win to close out the match.

Hillary Hannon led the match with 28 kills for Northwestern and Randa Hulstein added 17 kills.  Rylee Hulstein also reached double digits in kills with 11 and led the team with 19 digs.  Kaitlin Beaver had 61 assists and 13 digs.

Kali Schnacker had a team-high 17 kills for Bellevue.  Katy Gregory led the match with 25 digs while Rachel Muller added 12 kills and 21 digs.  The Bruins will end their season with a 32-6 overall record.