ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Volleyball team enters the final week of the regular season two games outside of the playoffs with two games remaining. The Jills will host Bethany Lutheran College at 7 p.m., on Friday then Martin Luther College at 11 a.m., Saturday.
 
Before the final two games, the Jills are in fifth in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference standings, two games behind Martin Luther. Northland will need to win out and get some help to make the playoffs. On Friday if the LumberJills win and MLC falls to the University of Wisconsin-Superior it will come down to the final game of the season for the last playoff spot. The last game of the season will see the Jills and Knights fighting for the last spot depending on the results on Friday.
 
The Vikings are 7-17 overall and 4-8 in the UMAC, with the remaining games even though they have the same record Northland cannot make the playoffs. Last week Bethany Luther split its conference matches, first falling in three sets to the University of Northwestern, the following day they won in three sets over North Central University. On the attack Lexiss Trygg leads the Vikings with 236 kills, averaging 2.74 per set. Junior Maddi Wendland paces BLC with 373 digs.
 
Earlier this season, the LumberJills topped the Vikings in five sets to earn their first win against BLC on the road since 2012. Northland was led by Bailey Wynn with 15 kills and an ace. Britta Josephson also reached double-digit kills with 10. Megan Van Gheem assisted on 38 points and Alexa Zadra led the team with 24 digs. The last three games in Ashland have been won by the Jills.
 
Entering the final week, the Knights are 8-16 overall and 6-6 in the conference. MLC is on a three-game skid, only winning one set in its last three matches. Junior Grace Kieselhorst surpassed the 200-kill mark in her last game and had 201 on the season. Senior Naomi Bridgemen leads the Vikings with 294 digs.
 
The Knights won over the Jills in their first meeting in three close sets. Wynn led on both sides of the ball with nine kills and 11 digs. MLC leads the series 21-4, but in the last 10 matchups only edge out the Jills 6-4.
 
Last week the Jills came away with a big win over Crown College in three sets to stay alive in the hunt for the postseason. In the following game, they fell in three sets to the University of Minnesota, Morris. Wynn reached her 1,000^th career dig in the win over the Polars.
 
Wynn leads the LumberJills on the attack with 221 kills, with Josephson right behind her at 181 in her freshman season. Setting up the attack for most of the season is Van Gheem with 544 assists. In the last few matches, Kodie Rempp has been the setter as well totaling 130 assists in eight matches. Defensively Zadra and Wynn lead the team in digs with 385 and 315 respectively. The seniors both reached the 1000 career dig mark this season. At the net Montgomery has sent back 31 to lead the team in blocks.  
 
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.