Oct. 17, 2006
Northwestern's Match Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern will round out its first trip through the Big Ten schedule this weekend at Indiana and No. 14 Purdue, hitting the road in conference for just the second time this season.
The Wildcats are coming off a pair of strong performances against two ranked foes last weekend, falling to No. 2 Penn State before defeating No. 16 Ohio State. Northwestern held PSU, the nation's leader in hitting percentage at .343 coming into the match, to just a .213 mark, .130 points below its average. NU attracted 1,002 fans to that match, the first Welsh-Ryan crowd of more than a grand in the Keylor Chan era. The Wildcats then outlasted the Buckeyes in five games with four 'Cats earning a career high in some statistical category.
Northwestern will first face Indiana this weekend at 6 p.m. CT Friday in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers entered the Big Ten schedule with an impressive 9-2 record, but currently are last in the conference at 1-7 in league matches.
The Wildcats then head back north in the state of Indiana to take on No. 14 Purdue. The Boilermakers were ranked in the top-10 last week but lost matches to both Minnesota and Wisconsin to drop five spots in the poll.
Northwestern freshman Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) earned her first-career Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor Monday after extending her reception error-less streak to four matches and digging 41 attacks over the weekend. The conference accolade is the first for the Wildcats this season.
Junior Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) broke out against OSU, recording her first-career double-double on a career-high 16 kills with a season-best 10 blocks.
After beginning the Big Ten season with three-consecutive losses, Northwestern is 3-2 over its last five matches including that win over then-No. 16 Ohio State.
Both matches this weekend will be available on Gametracker at NUsports.com. For Northwestern's complete match notes package for this weekend, click on the .pdf link at the top of this page.