Oct. 18, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women's volleyball team popped back above .500 Tuesday with a win over Loyola-Chicago, but they face two Big Ten teams on the road to round out this week's action.
The Wildcats (8-7, 4-4 Big Ten), travel to Iowa Friday and No. 21 Minnesota on Saturday.
Tuesday's victory over ULC was won at the net for Northwestern. Sophomore middle blocker Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had a school record-tying 14 blocks. She leads the Big Ten and is 23rd in the country in blocks per game (1.61). Junior Sarah Ballog (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita) is third in the Big Ten and 43rd nationally with a 1.34 average.
The Hawkeyes (2-13, 0-8) are the only Big Ten team without a conference victory. Last weekend they lost on the road to Ohio State (3-1) and Penn State (3-0).
Minnesota is one of three teams tied with Northwestern at 4-4 in conference play. The Gophers (10-6, 4-4) lost a heartbreaker to Ohio State (3-2) last weekend and fell earlier in the season to Michigan and Michigan State.
A broadcast of the Minnesota game will be available via the Internet at www.gophersports.com, courtesy of the Minnesota Women's Sports Information staff.