Oct. 3, 2006
Northwestern's Complete Match Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After playing seven matches during the past three weeks on the purple court of Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern travels to the state of Michigan this weekend for its first Big Ten action outside of Evanston.
NU will face Michigan at 6 p.m. CT Friday, Oct. 6, before taking on Michigan State at 7 p.m. CT Saturday, Oct. 7.
The Wildcats are coming off a convincing sweep of Iowa Friday night, Sept. 29, after dropping its first three conference matches to opponents who all are either ranked or receiving votes in the latest CSTV/AVCA coaches poll.
Michigan enters Friday with a four-match losing streak, coming in at 0-4 in the Big Ten after going a perfect 13-0 against nonconference opponents to begin the year. NU swept the season series versus UM last year.
Michigan State also was red-hot coming into the conference schedule, going 9-1 against nonconference foes. The Spartans enter this weekend tied with the Wildcats at 1-3 in the Big Ten. Last season, the two squads split when MSU took a five-game match in East Lansing before NU swept the return date in Evanston.
Sophomore Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) has been on fire in the Big Ten, hitting at least .367 in all four matches including efforts of .400 or better in the last three. She currently ranks fourth in the conference with a .415 hitting percentage in Big Ten matches.
Freshman Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) leapt to the top of the conference in digs per game, now averaging 6.14 per game in Big Ten matches. Minnesota's Malama Peniata is second at 5.44.
Junior Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) had a double-double with 12 kills and 36 assists to go along with a .476 hitting percentage (12-2-21) Friday against Iowa, a performance which ranks in the top-10 for hitting percentage in the Big Ten this year (minimum 12 kills).
Gametracker will be available for both matches. For Northwestern's complete weekend match notes, click on the .pdf link at the top of this page.