Nov. 9, 2002
IOWA CITY, Iowa - On the heels of four consecutive losses, the Northwestern volleyball team finally found its way back into the win column Saturday night. The Wildcats got back to the .500 mark in the Big Ten with a 30-27, 24-30, 30-21, 30-24 win at Iowa. The victory improves NU to 14-12 overall and 7-7 in the Big Ten.
Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) came within one of a season-high in kills, recording 23 to go along with seven block assists. Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis/East) also came within one kill of her career high, recording 16.
Iwona Lodzik (Tarnobrzeg, Poland/Tarnobrzeg) totaled 20 digs and Cassie McKnight (San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos) added a season-high 13, as Northwestern outdug Iowa 76-54. Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Poly) set a career-high for assists in a four-game match with 61.
After the teams split the opening 12 points of the game, Northwestern scored three straight for a 9-6 lead. The Hawkeyes responded with a 10-3 run to take the 16-12 advantage.
Iowa?s lead was 21-17 before the Wildcats rallied to tie the game 25-25. Trailing 27-26, the ?Cats rallied for the victory behind kills by Lodzik and Gardner and a pair of Iowa hitting errors.
Kelli Meyer (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) led the Wildcats with six kills in nine attacks in the game for a .556 hitting percentage. Robertson tallied 16 assists.
Northwestern dug itself an early hole in the second game, falling behind 5-0. The Hawkeyes? lead grew as large as nine points on two occasions, as NU was never able to mount a serious charge. Iowa?s lead never got below four at any point in the game.
The Wildcats hit just .095 during the game, despite six kills by Lange. Iowa benefited from 5.5 team blocks in the set.
The ?Cats jumped out to a 4-0 led in Game 3, before the hosts rallied to tie the game 7-7. With the score tied 13-13, Iowa scored four straight points, forcing an NU timeout. Whatever Head Coach Keylor Chan said worked, as the Wildcats scored five consecutive points for an 18-17 lead.
Northwestern held a 21-10 advantage, when it dominated the remainder of the game. The Wildcats scored nine of the game?s final 10 points to take a two games-to-one lead. Lange recorded eight kills and four block assists in the game. NU hit .293 as a team, as Lodzik contributed eight digs and Robertson had 16 assists.
The Wildcats carried the momentum into the fourth game, storming out to an 8-2 lead. Northwestern maintained control throughout the final game, as the Hawkeyes never got closer than five.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. next Friday when it hosts Purdue.