Oct. 23, 2010
No. 9 Penn State 3, No. 22 Northwestern 0
Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Ill.
Records: Northwestern (15-6, 5-5 Big Ten); Penn State (17-4, 7-3 Big Ten)
Up Next: at No. 20 Minnesota Friday, Oct. 29 7 p.m.
Box Score
Northwestern vs. Penn State Box Score 
2010 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Over 1,800 fans packed Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday evening to see a battle of two top-25 teams as 22nd-ranked Northwestern hosted ninth-ranked and three-time defending national champion Penn State. On this night, it was the Nittany Lions that had the upper hand as the Wildcats fell 18-25, 18-25, 17-25.
"It was a tough night tonight, but Penn State showed once again why they are one of the elite teams in the country," said head coach Keylor Chan. "The crowd was amazing tonight and it was great to see so many fans come out and support the team. We're halfway through the Big Ten season and have a long ways to go, and hopefully we can learn from this weekend moving forward."
Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) came off the bench to spark the Wildcat attack, leading Northwestern with seven kills on the night. Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) added six kills of her own with Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) and Stephanie Holthus (Burlington, Ill./Central) each adding five. With the five kills for Moffett, she ups her career total to 995, needing just five more to become the 19th member of the Northwestern 1,000-kill club.
Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) finished with 25 assists on the night with three kills as defensively Julie Chin (Naperville, Ill./North) posted 10 digs for the Wildcats. Alex Ayers (Playa del Rey, Marymount) notched eight digs as well for Northwestern.
Penn State set the tone early in set one, pouncing out to an early 11-4 lead and never looked back. The Nittany Lions would extend the advantage to nine at 21-12 before a late Northwestern rally closed the gap to just six at 24-18. But it was too little, too late as Penn State took the opening stanza 25-18.
Northwestern matched points with the Nittany Lions early in set two, trailing by one at 11-10. But a 10-2 Penn State run opened up the set as the Lions had built a comfortable enough lead to withstand another late Wildcat rally, taking the second set in a similar 25-18 fashion.
Another fast start by Penn State in set three gave the Nittany Lions an early five-point cushion. Northwestern was able to claw to within a pair of points at 11-9, but as was the case in the other two sets, an extended Penn State run gave it a commanding eight-point lead at 23-15 before cruising to the straight-sets victory.
Despite the setback, Northwestern's crowd was electric, thanks in part to a large number of former Wildcat players that returned to Evanston on Alumnae Night. Nearly 50 former players were introduced before the start of the match, walking through a tunnel formed by the current Northwestern players.
With the first half of the Big Ten season in the rearview mirror, Northwestern now sets its sight on the pivotal 10-match stretch to close out the 2010 season. That stretch begins Friday, Oct. 29, in Minneapolis when Northwestern battles 20th-ranked Minnesota at the Sports Pavilion. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.
********************
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats! -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and become a fan of Northwestern Volleyball on Facebook! Get the latest news, schedule updates, video and interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!