Nov. 2, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's volleyball team has dropped its last three matches on the road to nationally ranked Big Ten teams. This weekend, the Wildcats return home to Welsh-Ryan Arena and hope to snap that streak as they host Indiana and No. 25 Illinois.
Earlier this season, NU (8-11, 4-8 Big Ten) defeated Indiana (6-14, 3-9) in four games in Bloomington on Sept. 29. The Wildcats lost to Illinois (15-5, 8-4) on Sept. 28 in three games.
"We had a hard week of practice and hopefully we will come out well," head coach Keylor Chan said. "We're at home, which is nice, and we're looking forward to getting back into our own game."
A victory over Indiana, Chan said, would set up an intense match between intrastate rival Illinois on Saturday.
The Big Ten blocking lead will also be on the line Saturday night.
The first half of the season saw the Wildcats vying for the blocking lead with Penn State. When the Nittany Lions came to town, NU shut down their blocking game and gained control of the league's top spot.
Now comes Illinois, who leapfrogged Northwestern for blocking bragging rights two weeks ago. The Illini are averaging 3.14 blocks per game to the Wildcats' 2.95.
Individually, NU still holds the advantage. Sophomore Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), is averaging 1.54 blocks per game, is tops in the Big Ten and tied for 18th in the nation. The 'Cats also have the conference's sixth blocker in junior Sarah Ballog (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita), who is averaging 1.20 blocks per game.
Lisa Argabright is Illinois' top blocker, third in the conference with a 1.33 average. Her teammate Lydia Gard is seventh with 1.19.
Before that match, though, Northwestern hosts Indiana Friday night. In its last match, the Hoosiers took No. 21 Minnesota to five games before dropping their ninth conference bout.
Northwestern's volleyball matches will be played on the main court in Welsh-Ryan Arena, following a month in the McGaw Fieldhouse due to repairs on the main court. Time for both matches is set for 7 p.m.