EVANSTON, Ill. -- Behind dominant defense, all-around strong contributions from several Wildcats and freshman setter Taylor Tashima's first career triple-double, Northwestern knocked off the ninth-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini in a five-set thriller on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 15-25, 15-11).
The win was Northwestern's second of the season against a top-25 opponent after also beating No. 18 Minnesota at home on Oct. 5. It was the first win over a top-10 foe since the Wildcats downed the second-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Nov. 26, 2011 in the regular season finale that year. Finally, Wednesday marked the first time that Chicago's Big Ten Team knocked off a top-10 Illinois squad since besting the sixth-ranked Illini on Nov. 5, 2010.
Looking to build on an 8-3 home record coming into the match this time around, Northwestern held Illinois to a .177 hitting percentage, while five different 'Cats recorded seven or more kills. Tashima and fellow setter Caleigh Ryan combined for 56 assists, and libero Caroline Niedospial turned in another exceptional defensive performance with a match-high 26 digs.
"Emotions were definitely running high, but I think that's what makes this team strong," said sophomore Kayla Morin, who had a double-double with 15 kills and 18 digs.
Northwestern struck first in the opening set on a kill by Katie Dutchman, and the redshirt senior came up big again later in the set with an ace that gave the `Cats a 12-8 advantage. Then, off an Illinois timeout, Northwestern kept on rolling. A pair of kills by freshman outside hitter Symone Abbott helped the 'Cats grab a 15-8 lead, which they held through the end of the set. The Illini closed the gap to 18-16, but Tashima came up with three straight kills to give Northwestern a 21-16 advantage. From there, Illinois once again made a comeback bid, but after another Tashima kill gave Northwestern a 23-20 lead, the 'Cats took advantage of an attacking error by Illinois' Katie Stadick, followed by an ace from Dutchman--Northwestern's third of the set--to take a 1-0 edge in the match.
Northwestern again started strong in the second set, grabbing the first three points, but Illinois went on a 9-3 run with the help of a few untimely Northwestern errors and kills from Anna Dorn and outside hitter Jocelynn Birks. But the 'Cats chipped away, finally knotting up the score at 13 apiece midway through the set, only to grab the lead off a block by Abbott and Maddie Slater. A third straight Illinois error gave Northwestern a 15-13 lead, forcing the Illini to burn their first timeout of the set.
After Illinois tied the set following the timeout, Northwestern took the next three points, capped off by Tashima's first ace of the match, to go up 18-15, their biggest lead since the early 3-0 advantage. Illinois tied the stanza at 19 after a kill by senior outside hitter Morganne Criswell, and the teams traded points from there, until NU head coach Keylor Chan called a pivotal timeout with his team trailing 22-21.
"I just told them to trust your training," Chan said. "The goal of being in difficult situations is being relaxed but focused, and that's something that we talk about and we just have to execute."
Off the momentum-shifting timeout, Tashima hammered home another kill, and after an attacking error by Illinois, the freshman setter recorded her ninth--and perhaps most important--kill of the night to set up match point. Morin followed that up with a kill of her own, her fourth of the set, to put Northwestern up 2-0 in the match at the intermission.
By the end of the second frame, five Northwestern players had five or more kills, and eight different Wildcats had contributed to the team's dig total of 33, holding Illinois to a .187 hitting percentage up to that point.
The third set began much like the first two, with neither team gaining much of an edge through the first several points. With Northwestern trailing 6-5, Savannah Paffen and Slater combined for another block to level the score, but Illinois ultimately went ahead 11-8, forcing Northwestern to call timeout. The `Cats came out of the break by taking three of the next four points, but the Illini responded with a run of their own, taking six straight points, including kills by Dorn and Birks and a slew of blocks, to go up 18-11, ultimately going on to take the set, 25-16.
Northwestern couldn't overcome the Illini's smothering defense in the fourth set, keeping it close to begin the frame before dropping eight straight points to fall behind 21-12, a lead Illinois would hold on the way to winning the set and tying the match.
In the decisive fifth set, both teams once again played it tight at the start. With the game tied at nine apiece, Chan called another key timeout, after which Northwestern scored four straight points.
"He just told us to relax. It's our home court, and we've been practicing here since August," Tashima said. "Just go out there and play hard volleyball."
From there, Abbott slammed home the match-winning kill, her 16th of the night, giving the `Cats their second win in the three matches, as well as some momentum heading into Saturday's rematch against Illinois.
"That's the next test for this group," Chan said, "to turn it around and have consecutive performances."
NU heads down to Champaign on Saturday, Nov. 8 for a late afternoon rematch against the Illini. The first serve is set for 5 p.m. and the contest will be televised live on the Big Ten Network with Mike Wolf and Audrey Flaugh on the call.
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