Nov. 4, 2006
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Northwestern traveled to Iowa City Saturday night and took a four-game match from Iowa, 32-30, 30-26, 26-30, 30-25 to earn its first 2-0 weekend in Big Ten play this season.
The win gives the Wildcats three in a row, upping their record to 13-10 on the year, 7-7 in the Big Ten. NU sweeps the season series against Iowa, which falls to 13-13 overall, 2-12 in the conference with the loss.
Game one was close from start to finish. Iowa opened a three-point lead, 15-12, midway through, but Northwestern brought itself back to tie, 17-17, on a block by Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) and Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere). The Wildcats then created a three-point lead of their own, 26-23, but the Hawkeyes immediately tied, 26-26, prompting a timeout from NU head coach Keylor Chan.
Northwestern earned the first game point, 29-28, on a kill by Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier), but Iowa responded with the next two tallies for a game point of its own, 30-29. Anderson again notched a kill, and a Hawkeye attack error gave NU its second game point, 31-30. Senior Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) then put away an attack to give Northwestern a 32-30 game one win.
Game two was much of the same, with Northwestern several times creating three-point leads but never pulling away. After an Anderson ace and kill helped NU to a 20-17 lead, Iowa reeled off a 4-0 run to take a 21-20 lead.
The Wildcats responded, going on a 4-0 run of their own featuring a pair of blocks by Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) and Hyser. Another block by the pair made the score 25-22 in favor of Northwestern, and Iowa elected to use a timeout.
Later in the game, a Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) kill gave Northwestern game point, 29-26, and Anderson served up her second ace of the game to give the Wildcats a 30-26 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
In game three, Iowa forced an early Northwestern timeout when the hosts went up by four, 13-9. Kills by Anderson and Paulus brought the deficit to two, 14-12, but the Hawkeyes immediately created a 20-14 advantage to cause the Wildcats' second timeout of the game.
The lead became seven, 21-14, before NU battled back to within two, 25-23, with the help of two Paulus kills, a solo block by Hyser, an Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) ace and an Anderson kill. Iowa, however, extended itself back out for a 30-26 win to force a fourth game.
In the fourth, Northwestern took the first lead, 12-9, and Iowa used its first timeout of the game. The Wildcats continued to maintain a three- or four-point cushion until building a seven-point lead, 27-20, on an Anderson kill. NU held on to win game four, 30-25, and the match, 3-1.
Paulus led Northwestern with a season-high 20 kills, adding 18 digs for a double-double. Anderson recorded 17 kills and 17 digs for a double-double, while Jurivich had 57 assists and 10 digs for a double-double of her own.
Freshman libero Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) led NU with 21 digs, while Baxterbeck added a career-best 17. Aldridge finished with 14 kills for the 'Cats.
One week after earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for notching a school-record 15 blocks in a match against Michigan, Hyser finished Saturday's contest with 12.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. CT Friday, Nov. 10, at Wisconsin.