Nov. 12, 2010
Purdue 3, Northwestern 2
Site: Holloway Gymnasium West Lafayette, Ind.
Records: Northwestern (17-9, 7-8 Big Ten), Purdue (18-9, 9-7 Big Ten)
Up Next: at Indiana Saturday, Nov. 13 6 p.m. CT
Box Score
Northwestern at Purdue Box Score 
2010 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Three different Wildcat recorded at least 14 kills Friday evening, led by 16 from Stephanie Holthus (Burlington, Ill./Central), but early deficits proved to be too much for 24th-ranked Northwestern, falling to Purdue 22-25, 25-16, 24-26, 26-24, 10-15 at Holloway Gymnasium. The Wildcats fall to 7-8 in Big Ten play, remaining in a three-way tie for sixth-place with Ohio State and Indiana.
Holthus' 16 kills were complemented by 11 digs for Northwestern, giving the freshman the 10th double-double of her young career. Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) finished with 15 kills on 27 attempts with one error (.529 hitting percentage) and a team-best seven blocks while Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) added 14 kills for the Wildcats. Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) finished with five kills and four blocks up front.
Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) also posted a double-double on the night for Northwestern, finishing with 44 assists and 10 digs with four blocks. Defensively, Julie Chin (Naperville, Ill./North) and Alex Ayers (Playa del Rey, Calif./Marymount) tied for the team-lead with 13 digs.
Coming off a sweep of Indiana Wednesday night, Purdue held serve on its home court in the opening set, never allowing Northwestern to gain a lead. The Wildcats were able to pull even five times in the opener, the last of which came at 11-11. But the Boilermakers slowly pulled away down the stretch, leading by as many as four before holding off the 'Cats 25-22 in set one.
But Northwestern responded in a big way in the second stanza, using a 5-0 run to open up a seven-point advantage at 12-5 and never looked back. The Wildcats continued to build that cushion, eventually building a 10-point lead at 24-14 before closing out set two with a 25-16 decision, led by six kills from Johnson and four from both Holthus and Kaelin.
With the match tied at 1-1, set three likely proved to be the turning point on the evening. Similar to the opener, Purdue established the lead early, pushing out to a five-point advantage at 10-5 and again at 19-14. Northwestern applied the pressure, however, using 9-3 run to take its first lead of the set at 23-22, then again at 24-23. But facing a crucial set point, it was Purdue that responded with the final three points of the set, capturing the third 26-24 to gain control of the match at two sets to one.
In similar fashion to sets one and three, once again it was the Boilermakers that gained the early edge in the fourth set, racing out to an early 7-2 lead on the Wildcats. Northwestern seemed unfazed by the deficit once again and strung together a 15-8 run of its own to claim the lead at 17-15, setting up yet another battle down the stretch. Purdue would reclaim the lead at 22-20, but was unable to keep Northwestern at bay as the Wildcats returned the favor from set three, recording six of the final eight points to complete the rally 26-24.
As had been the story all night long, Northwestern once again fell behind early in set five as Purdue recorded four of the first five points. The Wildcats were able to fight back, pulling to within a pair a handful of times - the last of which came at 11-9. But spurred on by its hometown crowd, the Boilers closed out the set with an identical 4-1 run to take the 15-10 fifth-set decision to seal the 3-2 match victory and earn their first win in the series since 2008.
Northwestern looks to respond and get back to its winning ways Saturday night when it takes on Indiana in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are 19-8 on the year following a 3-0 defeat to Purdue Wednesday night and is currently part of the three-way tie for sixth-place with the Wildcats and Buckeyes with a 7-8 Big Ten mark. Opening serve is set for 6 p.m. CT from University Gymnasium.
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