MELLETTE – It was a milestone night for a cornerstone Northwestern volleyball player Tuesday night. Senior Ashley Haven became the all-time kills leader in the program’s storied history in a 25-20, 25-14, 25-14 Lake Region Conference win over Aberdeen Christian.
Haven had 18 kills in the match and now has 1,656 career kills, breaking the previous school record set by Jussy Tuscherer.
Taylor Vetter contributed a dozen kills for the second-rated Wildcats, who improved to 22-2 on the season. Ella Boekelheide finished with 31 set assists and five assisted blocks.
Sophie Glynn led a balanced Christian attack with seven kills. Jolie Fogarty added six kills and three ace serves, and Ari Johnson had five kills.
“I thought the girls put a lot of work tonight into our game against Northwestern,” said Christian coach Sally Stoebner. “We aren’t used to hitting against bigger blockers and I thought Northwestern did a great job at the net of slowing us down.”
After nearly two weeks on the road, Christian has a home match coming up.
“We have a home game on Thursday,” Stoebner said, “so we are excited to be back in our gym.”
The Knights, 8-8 on the season, play host to James Valley Christian in a non-conference match .
Serving: Aberdeen Christian (Jolie Fogarty 3 aces, Alexis Isakson 1 ace, Sawyer Schwan 1 ace); Northwestern 72-74 7 aces (Elexis Kramp 13-13 2 aces, Tara Blachford 15-15 2 aces, Sophia Troske 15-15 1 ace).
Hitting: Aberdeen Christian (Sophie Glynn 7 kills, Fogarty 6 kills, Ari Johnson 5 kills); Northwestern 112-123 39 (Ashley Haven 50-53 18 kills, Taylor Vetter 24-26 12 kills, Kylee Henjum 13-14 5 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Christian (Schwan 26 assists); Northwestern 119-119 38 assists (Ella Boekelheide 89-89 31 assists, Kramp 5-5 3 assists).
Digs: Aberdeen Christan (Sophia Eichler 15, Payton Skarin 13, Fogarty 11); Northwestern 55 (Haven 12, Blachford 12, Mikaela Schmitt 7, Troske 7).
Blocks: Aberdeen Christian (Eichler 3, Reagan Jett 3, Schwan 1); Northwestern (Lilly Haven 5 assists, Boekelheide 5 assists, A. Haven 3 assists, Henjum 2 assists).
Records: Aberdeen Christian 8-8; Northwestern 22-2.
