Blazers Outlast No. 3 Finger Lakes at NJCAA DIII Tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Dallas College North Lake outlasted Finger Lakes Community College in five sets in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III consolation round Friday at Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

No. 15-ranked North Lake beat No. 3 Finger Lakes, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 27-29, 15-13.

The 10^th-seeded Blazers (21-18) will play fourth-seeded Sandhills Community College (37-6) in Saturday's 2 p.m. fifth place match that will air on the NJCAA Network. Live Stats are also available.

Natalia Gonzalez finished with a season-high 16 kills, and hit .481, while adding four blocks and two aces. Shi'Miria Phillips had 13 kills and two blocks. Hadley Klock had 38 assists and 13 digs. Riley Weiher had eight kills and 12 digs. Hailey Pennison had seven kills, four blocks and four aces. Brooklyne Dewberry had seven kills, a .261 attack percentage and two blocks. Katie Lloyd had 22 digs and six aces. Alex Knowles had eight digs.

Finger Lakes' Anna Kurtzhalts had 19 kills, and Jackie Neureuter 15 kills, a .312 hitting percentage, 14 digs and two aces. Kayce Hennekey had 11 kills. Payton Stoddard had 51 assists, 12 digs and three aces. Michelina Williams had 26 digs and five aces.

The Lakers (29-4) finished with 15 aces, while the Blazers had 12. North Lake outblocked Finger Lakes, 7-2.

The Blazers led 17-9 in the first set following an ace by Lloyd. Gonzalez's kill extended it to 21-13. After another kill by Gonzalez that gave North Lake a 10-point lead, the Lakers used kills by Neureuter and Hennekey before Weiher's kill and Gonzalez's ace sealed Set 1.

North Lake led 23-22 in the second set on a kill by Weiher before Finger Lakes took advantage of two Blazers errors to gain control. The Lakers tied the match at a set apiece on the next serve when Kurtzhalts put the ball away.

Phillips pounded a kill to tie the third set at 18. The Blazers ran off the next seven points, using three straight kills by Gonzalez, an ace by Pennison and a putaway by Phillips to grab a 2-1 lead in the match.

Weiher banged down a set from Klock to put North Lake ahead, 23-21, in the fourth set. Finger Lakes used a kill by Hennekey and a Blazers error to go up, 24-23. A Lakers error and block by Pennison moved North Lake in front, 25-24, before Kurtzhalts' kill tied it again. Kurtzhalts' putaway gave the Lakers a 27-26 lead before putting the set to bed to force a fifth.

Gonzalez's kill gave the Blazers a 10-7 lead in Set 5. Neureuter's kill pulled the Lakers within 12-11. After a pair of Finger Lakes errors made it 14-11, Neureuter responded with a kill and an ace to pull the Lakers within one. The Blazers won the final point.

It was North Lake's first five-set win of the season. The Blazers improved to 9-5 on a neutral court.

It was North Lake's seventh win over a ranked opponent this season.