Nov. 9, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Playing the nation's top-ranked team for the first time since 1999, Northwestern battled No. 1 Penn State Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but fell in a sweep to the Nittany Lions, 30-24, 30-20, 30-27.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 15-11 on the season, 6-9 in the Big Ten. Penn State improves to a perfect 15-0 in the conference, 23-2 overall with its win.
Northwestern played the match without sophomore libero Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg), who suffered an injury during afternoon serve and pass. Senior Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) filled in at libero during the first two games, while sophomore Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) donned the opposite color jersey for NU in game three.
Penn State scored the first six points of the match, but Northwestern fought back to come within three, 11-8, on a block by Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) and Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire), and a ball handling error by Penn State.
The Nittany Lions kept a five-to-six point cushion until another Johnson/Aldridge block made the Wildcats' deficit four, 21-17, forcing a Penn State timeout. The Wildcats closed even further, making the score 27-24 on a PSU hitting error, but the Nittany Lions then scored the final three points to win game one, 30-24.
Penn State used a 7-0 run midway through game two to take a commanding 17-9 lead, but NU went on an immediate 4-0 run helped by a Johnson kill and two Paulus aces to bring NU back within four, 17-13. Penn State would run away from NU the rest of the way, however, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-20 win.
In game three, the Wildcats erased a seven-point deficit, 17-10, with a 7-1 run helped by kills from Johnson, Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) and Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier), bringing NU all the way back within one, 18-17. The teams fought back and forth, and Penn State used its second timeout of the game when another Nittany Lion attack error brought NU within two, 29-27.
A kill by Megan Hodge finished the match out of the break, giving PSU a 30-27 game three victory.
The Wildcats held defending Big Ten Freshman and Player of the Year Hodge to just an .026 hitting percentage, forcing the All-American into 10 hitting errors.
Anderson led the Wildcats with 12 kills while notching a double-double with 10 digs as well. Paulus had a team-best 15 digs, while Baxterbeck added 10.
The last time Northwestern faced the No. 1 team in the land was Oct. 30, 1999, when the same Penn State team swept NU in University Park, Pa.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 10 against Ohio State at Welsh-Ryan Arena.