• Records: Purdue Northwest (1-2), Minnesota Duluth (3-0), McKendree (0-4)
• Location: Melvin Price Convocation Center – Lebanon, Ill.
• Attendance: 50

Inside The Numbers

• (19-25, 14-25, 25-22, 23-25)
• Senior Arra Cottrell (LeClaire, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) led PNW with 15 kills and added 15 digs for a double-double performance.
• Senior Allyson Cathey (New Albany, Ind./New Albany) was close behind with 14 kills, hitting an efficient .303 in the match.
• Junior Anika Huelskamp (Oxnard, Calif./Oxnard) tallied 11 kills, six digs, and three service aces.
• Senior Marina Gronkiewicz (Munster, Ind./Munster) dished out 41 assists while adding two aces and five digs.
• Senior Livia Thomsen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) led all players with 24 digs.
• Minnesota Duluth hit .280 as a team while limiting PNW to a .170 attack percentage.
• UMD edged out PNW in total kills (56-52), blocks (9-8), and digs (73-60).
• Madeline Guetzkow led UMD with 15 kills and 19 digs.

The Breakdown

• PNW started strong but couldn't overcome UMD's efficient attack in the first two sets, falling 25-19 and 25-14.
• The team regrouped in set three, hitting .371 behind a well-balanced offensive effort to win 25-22.
• Set four was a back-and-forth battle with several lead changes, but Minnesota Duluth closed on a short run to take the set 25-23 and the match.
• Despite the loss, PNW showed improvement in each set, especially in offensive rhythm and defensive coverage.

Inside The Numbers

• Cathey powered the offense again with 11 kills on a match-best .458 hitting percentage.
• Cottrell added nine kills and led the net with five blocks.
• Gronkiewicz continued her steady setting with 24 assists and added four service aces.
• Huelskamp delivered a well-rounded effort with six kills, 11 digs, and three aces.
• Thomsen recorded 11 digs and four assists in a strong back row effort.
• Senior Amanda Hasse (Peotone, Ill./Peotone) contributed four blocks and two kills.
• PNW held McKendree to a .111 hitting percentage while hitting .198 as a team.
• PNW dominated from the service line with 11 aces, compared to three for the Bearcats.
• Destiny Gray led McKendree with nine kills during the match.

The Breakdown

• The opening set was tightly contested until a late run by PNW secured the 25-20 win.
• PNW found their rhythm in set two, hitting .286 and limiting McKendree to just 9 kills to win 25-17.
• The momentum carried into the third set where the offense kept clicking and the defense forced errors, closing out the sweep with a 25-16 set victory.
• PNW outpaced McKendree in points (52.0-38.0), kills (34-32), blocks (7-3), and digs (53-46) in a complete team effort.
• The win marked PNW's first of the season and capped off the McKendree Invitational on a high note.

• Purdue Northwest will travel out to the west coast to compete in The Cougar Classic from Friday, September 12 - Saturday, September 13 in San Marcos, California.