SIOUX CITY, IA. - No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan volleyball will suit up for the programs first NAIA National Championship tomorrow against No. 1 Northwestern after defeating No. 3 Eastern Oregon 3-1 in the semifinals on Monday night. A stellar showing from sophomore Eva Joldersma led the Wildcats to their semifinal victory while senior Martina Demarchi put IWU in the championship match with the final kill.
 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Location: Sioux City, IA | Tyson Event Center
• Records: IWU - 37-0, 18-0 CRL | EOU - 34-2, 21-1 CCC
• NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU - #2 | EOU - #3

MATCH VITALS

• Indiana Wesleyan opened set one with an early lead, powered by a 9-1 run early in the set, Eastern Oregon battled back but were unable to overcome the early deficit and IWU closed the opening set with a kill off the hand of Marissa Mullins at 25-23.
• EOU trailed early in set two until they tied the score at 13 and captured its first lead of the match off of a 4-1 run. The Wildcats answered with a three point run taking a one point lead. The teams went back and forth, trading the lead until the Mountaineers hit 20 and went on a 5-1 run after an IWU timeout to even the match score at one set apiece.
• An 11-1 run to start the fourth set for Indiana Wesleyan led to a 25-14 set three win. 
• The teams matched each other point for point until a a 7-3 scoring run by Indiana Wesleyan put them in the lead for good. That run provided the Wildcats the space they needed to hold off the Mountaineers and IWU captured the fourth set 25-19.

KEY WILDCATS

• Eva Joldersma - 17 kills, 3 blocks, 9 digs
• Marta Zambetti -  11 kills, .370 hitting percentage
• Abbigail Porter - 51 assists, 11 digs
• Cadee Notter - 29 digs

LOOKING FORWARD

• The Wildcats will face No.1 Northwestern College for the Red Banner tomorrow at 8:00 PM EST at Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, IA.
• Links for live stats and video can be found at IWUWildcats.com

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