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NEW ULM - On Thursday night, Martin Luther College did not look past lowly Crown College to their impending showdown today with undefeated Northwestern College.

Rather the Knights made quick work of the Storm, still winless in conference play, in just under one hour winning the match 25-15, 25-15, 25-14.

"You never look past an opponent," coach Rebecca Cox said. "You have to respect every opponent that you play. We had to focus on Crown tonight and not worry about what's coming."

The only lead Crown held the entire night was an immediate 1-0 advantage in the first set. But a Jaime Eternick kill quickly tied it back up at one. From there on out, it was all Knights for the remainder of the evening.

Crown drew within three at 12-9 off of a block but MLC slammed the door on any thought of a Storm comeback.

An Emily Boldt kill put the Knights up 20-12 and they went on from there to a 25-15 win.

MLC jumped on Crown quickly in the second set, roaring out to a 11-1 lead thanks to Amanda Burk's serving and a 9-0 run.

Carrie Fritzler put the Knights up by 11 at 20-9 with a resounding kill.

The Storm managed to pull within eight at 20-12 but that was the closest they got.

Joanna Kramer slammed home the final point for Knights giving them the 25-15 win in the second set.

In the third set, MLC once again built an early lead thanks to back-to-back aces from freshman Jennifer Draeger.

The Storm closed to within seven at 14-7 off of an MLC error. But the Knights responded by ripping off six straight points to take the 13-point advantage. MLC went on to win the set 25-14.

"In the first set we had five or six hitters all with four or five swings," Cox commented. "That means that we're moving the ball around well which is really important for us."

The Knights definitely did share the workload as no player reached double digits for kills. Fritzler led MLC with seven kills and an attacking percentage of .600. Katelyn Hauf added five kills. Eternick, Burk, and Boldt all added four kills.

Brianne Jeffers had 12 set assists for MLC and Eternick contributed eight more.

Burk finished the match 22-for-22 serving with three aces.

Renee Peters had six digs for the Knights.

After taking care of business against the Storm (4-15, 0-5), the Knights (10-11, 3-2) can now turn their attention to the top-ranked Eagles from Northwestern. The two teams will face off at 7 p.m.

"We really have to focus on the match itself," Cox said. "There's a lot of hoopla with Homecoming and Parents' Night. We just need to focus on the match at hand and come in ready to play."