Northwestern University Athletics
Volleyball Falls to Minnesota
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
November 21, 1998
Saturday, November 21, 1998
Attendance - 756
Final - Minnesota 3, Northwestern 0
Scoring by Games 1 2 3 Minnesota 15 15 15 Northwestern 13 4 10
Northwestern Leaders Minnesota Leaders Kills: Jessica Holloway (15) Kills: Nicole Branagh (18) Assists: Liz Renius (34) Assists: Lindsey Berg (37) Digs: Liz Renius (9) Digs: Lindsey Berg (7) Blocks: Doan, Owen, Ackerman (3) Blocks: Heather Baxter (7) Service Aces: Jessica Holloway (3) Service Aces: NicoleBranagh (5)Updated Records: Northwestern (15-15, 5-13 Big Ten); Minnesota (17-12, 7-11 Big Ten)
Notes: The Wildcats owned the momentum in the early part of game one, jumping out to 10-2 and 12-5 leads. The Golden Gophers fought their way back with strong play at the net. Sophomores Sonja Posthuma and Heather Baxter came up with some key blocks, while freshman setter Lindsey Berg used her tough top-spin jump serve to start her team off on the comeback. Minnesota came from behind to take game one, 15-13.
Northwestern suffered a loss in game two when senior middle blocker Melissa Doan and sophomore outside hitter Carmen Burbach collided going for a dig. Burbach, who is one of NU's main offensive weapons, did not return to the match and the Wildcats struggled to find a rhythm. Minnesota capitalized and easily won game two, 15-4.
The 'Cats regained their composure and stayed in game three for most of the way, thanks to kills by senior outside hitter Jessica Holloway and junior opposite side hitter Leah Ackerman. Another bright spot was the play of junior middle blocker Kitty Owen, who played in her second match of the week after a severe ankle sprain forced her to miss six matches. Owen had two kills and assisted on three blocks.
Holloway finished with her second-best hitting percentage of the season. The senior hit .536 on 15 kills, zero errors and 28 attempts. Doan ended up with 12 kills on the night.
The Golden Gophers were led by sophomore outside hitter Nicole Branagh's match-high 18 kills.
NEXT NORTHWESTERN MATCH: Fri., Nov. 27 at Penn State, 6:30 p.m.
