North Lake Falls to No. 2 Minnesota West in NJCAA DIII Quarterfinals

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Dallas College North Lake's volleyball team fell to No. 2 Minnesota West Community & Technical College, 25-19, 25-16, 25-14, in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III quarterfinals Thursday at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena.

The 10^th-seeded Blazers (20-18) will play third-seeded Finger Lakes Community College (29-3) in Friday's 2:30 p.m. consolation round.

Brooklyne Dewberry hit .583 with seven kills and no errors, and had a block. Shi'Miria Phillips had eight kills and a block. Hailey Pennison had six kills and eight digs. Hadley Klock had 23 assists and a block. Riley Weiher had 14 digs. Katie Lloyd had nine digs and two aces.

Ella Hesse had 12 kills, and Sadie Krahling and Kylee Larsen each had seven for Minnesota West (34-4). Lexi Schreurs had 40 assists. Kadyn Paulson had 16 digs, and Lydia Moore 12 digs and two aces.

The Bluejays built a 16-8 lead in the first set before the Blazers used a kill by Weiher and a block by Dewberry and Klock to start a five-point run that cut the gap to three. Lloyd's ace pulled the Blazers within 19-17, and a kill by Pennison kept them within two. Claire Bohlen put down a kill for Minnesota West before Phillips responded with one of her own. The Bluejays closed the set with kill by Raya Van Beek and an ace by Moore.

Natalia Gonzalez's kill pulled North Lake within three in the second set. Minnesota West used a kill by Bohlen to push the lead to 15-9. A block by Schreurs and Van Beek and a Blazers' error made it 19-11 before Phillips answered with a kill coming out of a timeout. Hesse had two straight putaways to stretch the Bluejays' lead to 21-12. Pennison's kill and a Minnesota West hitting error cut the gap to seven. The two teams swapped kills over the next three serves, with Dewberry and Pennison accounting for two of them, to make it 23-16. But a Blazers attack error and kill by Krahling gave the Bluejays a two-set lead.

Minnesota West got out to a 15-6 lead in Set 3 before Dewberry banged a kill. Lloyd's ace made it 18-9 before Larsen had a kill, and Krahling, Bohlen and Larsen combined on a block in a three-point run for the Bluejays. Gonzalez and Phillips' combo block, a Minnesota West attack error and a kill by Gonzalez brought North Lake within 21-12. Phillips' kill kept the deficit at nine, but Hesse put down two of the last three balls to wrap it up.

The Bluejays outblocked the Blazers, 10.5-2.

Friday's match will air on the NJCAA Network. Live Stats are also available.