Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Northwood University (Fla.) volleyball squad battled back from a two-set deficit against Ave Maria, followed by a dominant performance against McPherson in the championship game of the 2014 Northwood Labor Day VolleyFest, presented by SpringHill Suites, Saturday evening at the Countess de Hoernle Student Life Center. The Lady Seahawks defeated Ave Maria, 3-2 (21-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-15, 15-10), and McPherson, 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-22).
Against Ave Maria, the Lady Seahawks found themselves down 2-0 after the first two sets, but Northwood pulled out their best performance of the season to rally and take the next three sets from the Gyrenes. The Lady Seahawks attack was powered by sophomore Nikki McKown (Lakeland, Fla.), who matched a career-high with 20 kills, along with 11 digs. Senior middle Sydney Fish (Kalamazoo, Mich.) tallied 12 kills, while senior outside hitter Jessy Touron (Brockton, Mass.) recorded nine kills and two blocks. Sophomore Markie Abbott (Venus, Texas) and freshman Lexi Schnapf (Venice, Fla.) each tallied six kills. Sophomore setter Nicole Papineau (Walnut Creek, Calif.) dished out a career-high 53 assists with three aces and two kills, and senior libero Ti'Ana Fox (Tucson, Ariz.) grabbed 20 digs in the win.
The Lady Seahawks carried the momentum from their thrilling five-setter with Ave Maria into their match with McPherson, and Northwood transitioned it into an overpowering performance. McKown notched game-highs in kills (11), digs (16) and service aces (5). Junior outside hitter Veera Hietala (Tampere, Finland) chipped in nine kills and five digs, while Schnapf registered eight kills and a solo block. Papineau racked up 28 assists with nine digs, Fox snared 11 digs with an assist and an ace, and Fish had four kills and three aces. Senior libero Anni Polscher (Elmshorn, Germany) delivered three aces from the service line as Northwood swept the Bulldogs to win the 2014 Labor Day VolleyFest title.
"It feels great to win a home tournament," said Northwood Head Coach Chris Taylor. "This team is putting together something special this year, and it's fun to watch. Coming back and beating Ave [Maria] in five, we got to see what [we are] made of. Watching McPherson all weekend and they were 3-0 and I thought it was going to be a battle for the championship. We just came out and played the game we know we can play at our level. Against Ave Maria, our ball control pulled it out for us in the last three sets. We are going to live and die by our defensive ball control. It was just off in games one and two, and we just cleaned it up. We were passing great in the last three games, and it put Nicole [Papineau] in good positions to set and use all our hitters. Our mentality changed over our last six sets, and we put everything together. Now we have to get back to work. Tuesday morning we are back in the weight room getting to work because next weekend we host another tournament and the competition with be very tough. We need to have a workman's like attitude and take it one match at a time."
McKown led the all-tournament team as the tournament Most Valuable Player. Fish joined McKown on the tournament team, along with Cortlyne Huppe of McPherson, Hannah Wurster of Ave Maria, Larissa Pereira of Edward Waters, Arieta Vaimaona of Concorida-Alabama.
The Lady Seahawks extended their best opening to a season with a 6-0 start to the 2014 campaign. Northwood will return to the court next weekend during the 2014 Northwood Hardwood Challenge at the Countess de Hoernle Student Life Center on Friday and Saturday. The Lady Seahawks will welcome Roosevelt College, Southern Wesleyan, Florida College, and St. Thomas to Massimino Court.
NORTHWOOD VOLLEYBALL
