The Eagles finished their perfect UMAC volleyball season 12-0 on Saturday at the expense of the Knights, winning 25-15, 25-10, 25-12.

The Knights were fresh off a five-set victory at North Central University in Minneapolis Friday night, but taking on the Eagles less than 24 hours removed from the win was one tall order.

UNW had double the kills MLC had (42-21) and half the attack errors, as the Knights finished with 16 to UNW’s eight. Those kinds of gaps made it hard for the Knights to hang around in the end.

“In my time at MLC, Northwestern has been a dominant force,” Knights head coach Emma Holzhueter said. “Every time you meet them, you know it’s going to be a step above everyone else that you’ve played. So coming off that five-set win was a big deal because you know we were coming from a high that was great and celebrating – and senior day is always emotional. You combine those two and a five-set, late-night away match, I think we just have a lot of young people that need game experience, they need to see what it’s like playing this team.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College’s Anna Kieselhorst (12), Greta Nolte (6) and Kiara Humann (8) celebrate a kill by Hannah Rodmyre, middle, during a UMAC match with the University of Northwestern on Saturday at MLC.

The Knights had 10 freshmen this year on the roster and just one senior in Lydia Feidt, who the Knights celebrated after the match.

While Feidt was the lone senior on the team this year, she was a key player for the Knights during her time with the program.

“She’s given everything that’s been asked of her and more,” Holzhueter said of Feidt. “And that was really hard to think about losing, but you know she was also such an incredible leader that on a year where we have 10 freshmen, she’s like the best example of creating future leaders. We had so many young people looking at her and going, ‘Yeah, that’s what I want to do.’

“So I think what kind of hit me is I’m really sad, I’m really, really heartbroken to lose her, but I think she created a lot of future leaders that I may loser but, but I keep a lot of her influence on the team with that many players getting to see what a lone senior could accomplish.”

Feidt finished with two kills, a block and an ace serve.

The Knights were led by Elsa Brauer and Kiara Humann, who each had six kills, while Brauer added a block. Ella Walz and Kourtney Zech each had nine set assists for MLC, with Walz adding three kills. Anna Kieselhorst had a team-high seven digs and two aces, Hannah Rodmyre had two blocks and two kills and Greta Nolte added two kills.

The Eagles were led by hitters Marley Aune and Anja Jarchow, who finished with nine and eight kills, respectively. Anna Olsen added eight kills for the Eagles, while Addeson Wyatt set up the attack with 29 set assists.

The Knights had an early lead in Set 1, 2-1, after a kill from Rodmyre, but it was short-lived as the Eagles took the lead and stretched it to 17-8 after a 6-0 run. The Eagles finished the set on a 3-0 run, with kills from Jarchow and Miranda Wyatt ending the set.

Set 2 saw the Eagles fly out to an 11-0 lead before an error got the Knights on the board. The Eagles got a kill from Aune to go up 12-1, but the Knights got a kill from Feidt and an ace from Kieselhorst to spark a 4-0 run and cut the deficit to 12-5. The Eagles answered with a 6-0 run and later closed the set on a 4-0 run.

MLC played its best volleyball early in the third set, taking a 2-1 lead after a pair of errors. The Eagles got the lead back at 3-2, but a kill by Brauer tied it up again. The Eagles got a couple of kills from Anna Egge and Aune to go up 6-3, but MLC got back within a point after a service error and an ace serve from Feidt.

The teams traded a point after that before the Eagles went up 9-6 on a kill by Olsen, but an attack error and a kill by Nolte had the Knights again within a point at 9-8.

The Eagles found their rhythm again, however, stringing together a 9-0 run to balloon their lead to 18-8 before a kill from Feidt stopped the run. Moments later the Eagles finished the match on a kill by Norah Jaeb.

Holzhueter again commended her senior Feidt for her work ethic and consistent calming presence among what was largely an underclassmen group.

“At one point, I think I did the mental math and was, like, ‘OK, we have four underclassmen on the court right now,’ [laughs],” Holzhueter said. “So, it is definitely a different year to have so much youth and to be asking so much of them right away. So, it’s been great to have Lydia out there. She doesn’t really come off the court, she doesn’t get a break, and I’ve asked a lot from here and she just has always stepped up and just done more.”

UNW will prepare for the UMAC tourney next with a 21-7 overall record and 12-0 UMAC mark, while MLC ends its season 4-21 overall and 3-9 in the UMAC.