By JACLYN BURKE
Student Writer
The Northwestern volleyball team fell to Southwestern 3-2, at home on Thursday to close out the regular season.
Before the match got underway, five Ranger seniors were honored for their hard work and dedication while attending Northwestern. Seniors Korina Lillard, Megan Hentschke, Kaydee Yukawa, Ashanti Banks and Lachelle Purrier all received the honor.
According to riderangersride.com, when play got underway in Percefull Fieldhouse, the Rangers took the second and fourth sets with command.
In the second set, the Rangers were able to shrug off the first set loss by dominating the Bulldogs from start to finish, eventually taking the set 25-16.
When the fourth set got underway, the Rangers and Bulldogs battled back and forth early on, until Southwestern went on a hot streak, opening to a 7-3 lead.
The Rangers kept fighting though, and eventually come back to knot the game up at 13-13.
The Bulldogs would jump back out front with a 19-16 lead, but it would not hold up as the Rangers rallied back with a 9-0 run to close out the set and take the fourth set win, 25-19.
The Bulldogs took the first, third and fifth sets (22-25, 19-25 and 11-15), however, and walk away with the 3-2 win over the Rangers.
The final score, 3-2, is quite the improvement from the 0-3 loss the Rangers ended up with after the first time they fell to the Southwestern Bulldogs this season.
Ranger junior, Asia Pipkin, led the team with 16 total kills. Ranger senior, Lillard, aided the defensive effort with 22 digs along with Pipkin who contributed 18.
Ranger senior, Banks, had three blocks for Northwestern’s defensive side. Junior, Vanessa Maile, led the team in assists with 35, and Yukawa finished just behind her with 28 assists.
“The crowd was awesome,” head coach, Fredrick Wagner said. “We had the best support of the season. It was a great send-off for our first group of four-year seniors!”
The game against the Bulldogs closed out the regular season for the ladies. “We finished in the middle of the pack and qualified for the post-season tournament in our first year in the conference,” Wagner said.
In terms of the Great American Conference, the recent loss to Southwestern doesn’t mean anything to the Rangers.
Wagner said, “As the tournament started to shape up it was apparent that we would be playing SWOSU with a win or a loss.”
He said the team looks forward to “putting our best foot forward on a neutral court. This is the best of the conference and we will all be on the road.”
The Rangers finished with an 11-17 overall record in the regular season as well as a 8-8 record in conference.