EVANSTON, Ill. -- After knotting the match at a set a piece after two, Northwestern was unable to maintain any momentum after the intermission as it fell to the Michigan State Spartans at Welsh-Ryan Arena Wednesday night, 3-1.
The Wildcats fell into an 8-2 deficit to start the match, but slowly they chipped away within a pair of points, down 11-9 after an attacking error by the Spartans. Michigan State went on an 8-4 after that point, however, to put NU behind it for good in the opening frame. MSU eventually took the first set by a score of 25-15.
The Wildcats remedied their slow start in the first set with a strong offensive attack in the second. After posting only seven kills in first set, the `Cats improved drastically to more than double that number with 15 terminations in the second stanza, hitting at a clip of .220.
Kayla Morin quickly put away two kills for the 'Cats first two points. After jumping out to a quick 3-1 lead, Michigan State fought back to claim the lead until Maddie Slater and Symone Abbott teamed up for a block and stuffed a Spartan kill to tie the match at eight points. Later, Katie Dutchman served an ace to put Northwestern up again and the Del Mar, Calif., native followed that up by assisting Savannah Paffen on a block that gave Northwestern a five point lead, 16-11, and it's biggest lead of the match at the time. But Michigan State wasn't done yet, and came back to tie the set at 18 points.
The teams traded the next couple points until MSU buried three consecutive kills to build a late lead, 23-20. The newcomer, Abbott, came up big for the Wildcats and put away a kill to narrow the gap to just two points. Monica McGreal took the next serve for NU and buried her first ace of the match, bringing the Wildcats to within one point of the Spartans one again. MSU retaliated with a kill to reach set point, 24-22. But Northwestern would not be denied, and Morin came back with consecutive kills to tie the match again at 24 points. The intensity between the two teams culminated as they traded points before Morin buried another kill to give the `Cats the lead at 26-25 and NU soon claimed the win after a Spartan attack error.
After the intermission the Spartans took the first point of the third set and didn't look back from there. Northwestern struggled to contain a red-hot Michigan State offense that hit at a scorching clip of .414 for the set. The home team was plagued by 10 attacking errors in set three, with only two players - Abbott and Paffen - earning more than one kill in the stanza. Michigan regained the overall match lead with a 25-9 triumph in the third.
Much like the third set, Michigan State controlled the tempo in the fourth and never let NU come close. The `Cats pieced together the start of a comeback, but it came much too late. The Wildcats fought to extend the match until the end before falling, 25-13.
Caroline Niedospial recorded 21 digs Wednesday, marking the 12th time this season that she has reached at least that mark. The Evergreen Park, Ill., native has notched double-digit digs in 26 of Northwestern's 28 matches this season.
Morin led NU with 12 kills, while Paffen added four kills, four blocks and two digs for the Purple and White.
The Wildcats will play the second of three matched in their final homestand of the season on Saturday, Nov. 22 when the team faces off against the Iowa Hawkeyes. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. Following the match, all fans are invited to stick around for a viewing of Disney's Frozen. Popcorn an Coca-Cola products will be served to all in attendance.
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