Nov. 11, 2005
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Freshman Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) was not yet with the team last spring when Northwestern traveled to Minneapolis and defeated 2004 national finalist Minnesota during offseason competition, but she held her collegiate coming-out party Friday night at the Sports Pavilion in a 3-2 win over the No. 17-ranked Gophers, 30-27, 30-28, 23-30, 28-30, 15-12.
Hyser recorded a career-high and match-best 20 kills on a .486 hitting percentage (20-3-35). Her kill total was the second-best for any Wildcat this season. Her first error in the match did not come until midway through the third game, and she more than quadrupled her previous career-high of two digs, narrowly missing her first-career double-double by just one dig.
Northwestern extends its current winning streak to three with the victory, moving to 15-10 overall, 6-9 in the Big Ten. Two of those three wins have come over ranked opponents. Minnesota's loss snaps a four-match winning streak and drops the Gophers to 20-6, 10-5.
The win was Northwestern's first at Minnesota since Oct. 20, 1990.
Northwestern took the early lead in game one, forcing Minnesota to call a timeout after the Wildcats built a 13-7 lead.
Great defensive play helped the 'Cats continue to maintain their advantage. Northwestern took an 18-14 lead when senior Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) sprawled out to get a third hit over the net, where it fell in for a kill.
Until late in the first game, the Wildcats held the Gophers to a negative hitting percentage.
Minnesota made a run, cutting the NU lead to one, 24-23. Hyser answered with three-consecutive Wildcat points on a pair of kills and a solo block to push the Northwestern cushion back to four, 27-23.
Northwestern eventually closed out game one win, 30-27, on a Paula Gentil service error.
The Wildcats continued their strong play in the second game, opening up the first real lead for either team at four points, 14-10. The Gophers came back to take a lead of their own, 18-17, before the 'Cats snatched it right back with a 3-0 run, 20-18.
Neither team opened up more than a two-point lead the rest of the way, though Northwestern found itself with the majority of the advantages. A Gardner ace gave the Wildcats two game points, 29-27.
A Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) kill two points later gave Northwestern a 30-28 second-game win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Game three again saw the Wildcats take the first advantage, this time using a 12-7 lead to force a Gopher timeout. Minnesota came out of the break and made a 8-2 run to take a 15-14 lead. Northwestern called timeout when that lead hit two, 18-16.
The Wildcats fought back to regain the lead, 21-20, but Minnesota refused to be swept and went on a late run to capture the third game, 30-23.
After Minnesota took its first early-game lead during the match to begin the fourth, Northwestern fought back, using an 8-1 run to take a 13-10 advantage. The Gophers regained the lead later in the game, 17-15, and NU head coach Keylor Chan called timeout.
The Wildcats responded to the break with an 8-3 run to take a 23-20 advantage and cause a Gopher timeout. Minnesota then immediately tied the game, 24-24. The score remained tied all the way up to 28-28 when the Gophers notched two points in a row to win the fourth game and even the match, 2-2.
Minnesota lept out to a 4-1 lead in the fifth game, prompting an NU timeout. After the Gophers extended that lead to 6-1, the Wildcats came storming back with a 9-2 run to take a 10-8 lead.
With the Wildcats up 11-10, sophomore Cally Stolbach (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) subbed in and served NU to a 14-10 advantage.
Northwestern eventually closed out the game and the match, 15-12, on a Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) kill.
In a battle of the reigning Big Ten Co-Defensive Players of the Week, Gardner recorded 37 digs, eight more than Gentil. Gardner's total broke her own NU single-match record of 36, set just last week against then-No. 15 Purdue. She now has 441 digs for the season -- 20 shy of breaking own single-season record set last year.
Purcell finished with a season-best 17 kills for NU, while Anderson chipped in 13 kills and a career-best 17 digs for a double-double.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. tomorrow night, Saturday, Nov. 12, at Iowa.