IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Northwestern concluded a lengthy four-match road trip Saturday night against Iowa and the Hawkeyes outlasted the Wildcats, 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12), in the finale at Carver Hawkeye Arena. It was NU's fourth five-set match this season, but the first one that it was unable to win.
Freshman Symone Abbott continued to have a strong season during her first foray into collegiate volleyball. The Northville, Mich., native led the 'Cats with 20 kills on an attacking percentage of .405. Katie Dutchman and Kayla Morin also posted double-digit terminations with 12 and 11, respectively.
The match started out quite close as the two teams were never separated by more than two points during the first set until Northwestern went up by three, 21-18, after an Iowa attacking error. The Hawkeyes responded and scored twice in a row after that, but the Wildcats never lost the lead. In fact, Iowa was held off the scoreboard completely and NU went on to win 25-20.
The home team exacted a bit of revenge in set number two, pulling off a 25-23 triumph to even the overall score at a set apiece. NU held an early 9-5 lead after a block by Yewande Akanbi and Maddie Slater, but Iowa strung together an 8-1 to take the lead at 13-10. The score was later knotted at 17-17, but the Hawkeyes used another lengthy run, this one 6-1, to take a 23-18 lead. The Wildcats chipped away, thanks in part to a kill from Abbott and a block by Dutchman and Abbott, and suddenly they were down only a point. Jess Janota ended the frame, however, with one of her 16 kills on the night to even the match at a set apiece.
Iowa put Northwestern's collective back to the wall with a 25-20 triumph in the third set. The Hawkeyes hit .429 in the frame with 17 kills. On the other side of the net, the Wildcats were held to a mark of just .182 with 10 kills and four errors.
The 'Cats clawed back and extended the match with a narrow two-point victory, 25-23. The frame followed a similar blueprint to the first with neither team taking a lead of larger than three points throughout the duration of the set. Northwestern went ahead 22-19 after Dutchman served an ace. Iowa came back and tied things up at 23-23, but back-to-back kills from Morin and Abbott sent the match into a decisive fifth set.
Though it was close throughout, Northwestern never led in the fifth set. A kill from Morin knotted the set at seven points apiece before a kill by Julianne Blomberg gave Iowa the lead for good. Ahead in the fifth 14-12, Janota soon ended the match with a kill that gave her team its first win in Big Ten play this season. It also snapped Iowa's seven-match losing skid against the 'Cats.
The Wildcats return home to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Friday, Oct. 24 when they host the nationally ranked Purdue Boilermakers in a Big Ten tilt. Friday's match is Social Media Night, Wildcat Juniors Night and Alumnae Night. For more information about those great promotions, please click here.
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