Oct. 12, 2011
Northwestern (10-7, 1-5 Big Ten) vs. Michigan State (14-4, 3-3 Big Ten)
Friday, Oct. 14
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. 7 p.m.
Streaming Video: Wildcats All-Access
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern (10-7, 1-5 Big Ten) vs. No. 20 Michigan (14-4, 2-4 Big Ten)
Saturday, Oct. 15
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)
Evanston, Ill. 7 p.m.
Streaming Video: Big Ten Digital Network on Wildcats All-Access
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's women's volleyball team will return home to Welsh-Ryan Arena this weekend where it is slated to play five of its next six matches. The stretch begins with conference tilts against Michigan and No. 20 Michigan State this weekend.
Opening Serve: Northwestern dropped both matches on its recent two-match road swing to Penn State and Ohio State. On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the 'Cats pushed No. 8 Penn State to the absolute limit before falling in the fifth set. NU rallied on two occasions from down 1-0 and 2-1 to tie the match, but ultimately ran out of steam against the four-time defending national champions.
The second set in Happy Valley marked the first time Northwestern has taken a game from Penn State since Oct. 11, 2003 and more historically, it was the first time the Wildcats took a set from Penn State at Rec Hall since Sept. 5, 1987 when the Nittany Lions were still a member of the Atlantic-10 conference.
On Saturday, the quick road trip concluded against another ranked foe, No. 25 Ohio State. The Buckeyes controlled the tempo early on and grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the contest. For the second straight match, however, Northwestern remained undeterred and used an 8-0 run with the score tied at eight apiece to create comfortable space between the two teams. The Wildcats would go on to win the set, 25-18. Unfortunately the momentum was not sustained and Ohio State went on to win the next two sets in order, 25-14 and 25-20.
Scouting the Spartans:
2011: 14-4, 3-3 Big Ten
Last Week: W vs. Wisconsin (3-1); L vs. No. 14 Minnesota (0-3).
Head Coach: Cathy George (Illinois State, 1985). Seventh season at Michigan State (113-96; .541) and 25th overall (478-320; .590).
Of Note: Michigan State head coach Cathy George became the third coach in Spartans history to record her 100th win with the program in the team's season-opening victory over North Florida. In 1989, George became the first female head coach to reach the NCAA Division I Final Four as the bench boss at Texas-Arlington.
Scouting the Wolverines:
2011: 14-4, 2-4 Big Ten; ranked No. 20 in this week's AVCA top-25 coaches poll.
Last Week: L vs. No. 14 Minnesota (2-3); L vs. Wisconsin (1-3).
Head Coach: Mark Rosen (Cal State-Northridge, 1985). 13th season at Michigan (253-156; .619) and 19th overall (462-193; .705).
Of Note: Since the Wolverines began the season with 13 straight wins, they have dropped four of their last five contests with the lone victory coming against Iowa on Sept. 30.
For more information about this weekend's matches, please click on the Northwestern Game Notes link near the top of the page.
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