Volleyball Wins Pair To Open Season

OVERVIEW – SETON HILL/CATAWBA

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Seton Hill Griffins 1 (25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 32-30) / Northwood 3, Catawba College 0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20)

RECORDS: Northwood 2-0/Seton Hill 0-2/Catawba 1-1

LOCATION: Croy Gymnasium – Findlay, Ohio

RECAP: Northwood Volleyball open season with a pair of matches at the Findlay Invitational, defeating Seton Hill 3-1 before earning a wild 3-0 win against Catawba Friday afternoon (September 3).

INSIDE THE MATCH - SETON HILL

• Northwood jumped out to an early 9-5 lead in the opening set. Seton Hill responded with four straight points to tie the score before the Timberwolves took the lead for good. NU scored three straight to go up 12-9 and eventually went on to win 25-22.  NU had a strong offensive set in the opener, hitting .364 (15-3-33) compared to Seton Hill at .182 (14-8-33).
• The Griffins got off to a better start in the second set, scoring four straight and five of the first six points for the early advantage. Northwood chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the score at 12-12. The remainder of the set was close – neither team led by more than three the remainder of the way. NU eventually pulled out the set 26-24 to take a 2-0 lead. Northwood hit .220 (16-7-41) in the second while the Griffins finished at .118 (9-5-34).
• The third set saw the Griffins get off to another good start, going on a 5-1 run to take an 8-4 lead. Northwood responded with six of the next seven points to go up 10-9. The Timberwolves eventually led 21-18 when Seton Hill finished with a push. The Griffins scored seven of the final nine points to take the set 25-23.  Both teams struggled offensively in the third – Northwood fell back to .057 (11-9-35). SHU hit .094 (9-6-32).
• After a close start to the fourth set, Seton Hill took a 15-10 lead. NU fought back to take the lead at 19-18, which set up a back-and-forth finish. Northwood had a set point at 24-23, which was followed by Seton Hill having five set points at 25-24, 26-25, 27-26, 28-27 and 29-28. Northwood made the final run to earn the match, scoring four of the final five points to take the fourth set 32-30 and the match 3-1.  NU jumped back up to a .326 attack percentage in the fourth (22-7-46), while Seton Hill finished at .200 (15-5-50).

MATCH STATS - SETON HILL

• HITTING: Seton Hill .154 (47-24-149), Northwood .245 (64-26-155)
• DIGS: Seton Hill 49, Northwood 61 (Grace Rekeweg/Sophia Oakes – 16)
• BLOCKS: Seton Hill 7, Northwood 5 (Maya Ferland – Three)
• ACES: Seton Hill 7, Northwood 5 (Macy Lintz – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - SETON HILL

• Grace Rekeweg: 15 kills, 16 digs
• Olivia Ott: 14 kills, four digs
• Kiana Martens: 13 kills, 18 digs
• Macy Lintz: 59 assists, four aces, seven digs

INSIDE THE MATCH - CATAWBA

• Northwood struggled early in the match, falling behind 13-5 and 15-6 in the opening set. The Timberwolves then made a big rally, scoring 14 of the next 18 points to go up 20-19. NU eventually went up 23-21 before winning 25-23. Both teams had big offensive sets in the opener – Northwood hit .467 (17-3-30) while Catawba ended at .345 (12-2-29).
• The second set started in the exact opposite way, with Northwood going up 12-5. Catawba responded with a big run, putting up eight straight points to go up 13-12. Catawba continued the momentum, eventually making their run 18-4 to lead 23-16. But the Timberwolves made the final run of the set, scoring six straight points to get within one at 23-22. Catawba then had a set point at 24-23, only to see Northwood score the final three points to finish off a 10-1 run and earn the set 26-24. The offenses fell back in the second set, with the Timberwolves finishing at .167 (14-7-42) and Catawba ending at .085 (12-8-47).
• The final set was close until a late run by Northwood – neither team led by more than three points until a 4-0 push by the Timberwolves made the score 20-16. With the NU lead standing at 22-20, Northwood scored the final three points to take the set 25-20 and the match 3-0. The Timberwolves had another strong set on offense in the third, hitting .351 (16-3-37). Catawba ended the final set at .250 (12-3-36).

MATCH STATS - CATAWBA

• HITTING: Catawba .205 (36-13-112), Northwood .312 (47-13-109)
• DIGS: Catawba 40, Northwood 53 (Oakes – 14)
• BLOCKS: Catawba 8, Northwood 0
• ACES: Catawba 9, Northwood 7 (Three Players – Two)

TOP NU PERFORMERS - CATAWBA

• Sydney Sweet: 11 kills, .588 attack percentage (11-1-17)
• Rekeweg/Ott: Nine kills, eight digs each
• Macy Lintz: 35 assists, eight digs

UP NEXT

• Northwood will face Catawba once again Saturday (September 4). First serve is set for Noon.