Nov. 2, 2007
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Trailing two games to one Friday night at Huff Hall, Northwestern rallied to hand Illinois its sixth-consecutive home Big Ten loss and fifth five-game loss in a row at home with a 25-30, 30-18, 20-30, 30-27, 15-12 victory.
The win improves Northwestern's current winning streak to five matches, bumping the Wildcats' record to 15-9 overall, 6-7 in the Big Ten. Illinois falls to 14-9 on the season, 6-7 in the conference with its loss, which also keeps the Illini winless at home during the league schedule.
Northwestern improves to 4-0 in 2007 in five-game matches, while the Illini fall to 1-8 in five-game matches. Illinois has yet to win a home contest in Big Ten play this year, but sports a 6-1 record on the road.
A 4-1 spurt by Northwestern capped by a Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) ace and a block from Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) and Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) gave the Wildcats a 15-14 lead midway through game one, but Illinois responded with an immediate 9-3 run of its own to take a 23-18 lead and force NU to burn both of its timeouts.
The Wildcats were not able to cut their disadvantage during the remainder of the first game, falling, 30-25.
After falling behind, 3-1, in game two, NU reeled off five-consecutive points including a pair of Hyser kills and a termination by Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) to take a 6-3 advantage and force an early Illinois timeout. The Illini came back to tie, 11-11, but the Wildcats then launched an 11-3 run to take a commanding eight-point lead, 22-14.
Northwestern continued to press, ending the game on a 6-1 run to win, 30-18. Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) had three kills, while Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) added one kill and an ace on the final point during the run.
Aldridge led NU with six kills on nine swings with no errors in game two.
Illinois inched out to an early 12-8 lead in game three to cause a Northwestern timeout. A 3-0 Northwestern run later on capped by a Johnson ace brought the 'Cats back within a pair, 14-12, but the Illini used a 6-2 rush to build a 20-14 lead and force NU's second timeout. As in the first game, the Wildcats could not arrest their slide, losing by a score of 30-20.
It was Northwestern's turn to come out with the lead in game four, with the Wildcats this time forcing an Illinois timeout when its lead reached five, 16-11. With NU's lead at seven, 20-13, Illinois went on a 9-2 run to knot the score, 22-22, and force both of the Wildcats' timeouts.
With the score still tied, 25-25, an Anderson kill and a block from Paulus and Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) helped propel a 3-0 NU run to give the visitors a 28-25 lead, causing Illinois' final timeout of game four. Three points later, Paulus pounded home NU's 30th point to even the match, 2-2, with a 30-27 Wildcats' win.
Each team traded mini-runs of two or three points in the early going of game five, with Illinois holding an 8-7 edge at the side switch. From there, two Paulus kills and a block by Paulus and Aldridge gave the 'Cats a 10-8 lead and forced the Illini to use a timeout. Illinois then cut the deficit to one, 11-10, and NU head coach Keylor Chan called a timeout of his own.
Illinois tied the score out of the break, 11-11, then NU got three-straight points on an Aldridge kill and two Illini attack errors to earn three match points, 14-11. Illinois scored the next point, then Chan used his second timeout of game five. Paulus then terminated the final point to terminate the game, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
Paulus finished with a team-best 18 kills and 19 digs for a double-double. Anderson added 16 kills and 13 digs for a double-double of her own. Glab had 53 assists and 10 digs for a third NU double-double, and Aldridge contributed 14 kills for the 'Cats.
Nobilio had a team-best 28 digs, while Emma Pollert (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) added 10. Johnson finished with a team- and season-best seven blocks.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 3, at No. 7 Wisconsin.