Northwestern
Minnesota
Women's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 Minnesota, 3-1
10/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 27, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Northwestern volleyball team fell to seventh-ranked Minnesota in four games tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU fell to 4-17 on the season and 1-10 in the Big Ten. The Gophers improved to 21-1 overall, 10-1 Big Ten.
Northwestern opened the match with a 6-0 lead before Minnesota could put any points on the board. The two teams battled back and forth before a kill by Kelli Meyer (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) gave NU a 10-7 lead. The 'Cats allowed Minnesota two more points before a kill from Lindsay Pavlik (Laguna Beach, Calif./Mater Dei) ended the game at 15-9.
Game 2 was all Minnesota, as the Gophers took a 8-1 lead and never looked back. The 'Cats begin to chip away at the lead, but could only get as close as 10-4 before Minnesota shut them down, 15-9.
Tied at one apiece, the teams battled before the Gophers took a 6-2 lead. Traci Lato (Phoenix, Ariz./Central) served an ace to get the 'Cats back in the game. A block by Meyer and Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) put the 'Cats within one, 6-5. Minnesota answered, increasing the lead to 9-5. The Gophers went on to win Game 3, 15-6.
Minnesota came out strong in Game 4, taking an early 5-0 lead. A service ace by Cassie McKnight (San Marcos/San Marcos) gave NU its first point of the game, but the Gophers increased the lead to 8-1 on a Northwestern attacking error. Minnesota allowed only five more points after that to close out the match, 15-6.
Lange led the Wildcats with 18 kills, hitting .467 (18k-4e-30ta) on the night. Ballog recorded 13 kills in the effort. Pavlik and Carmen Burbach (Columbus, Neb./Scotus Central Catholic) each had 10 digs. Meyer had three of the team's eight service aces on the night.
Nicole Branagh led the Gophers with 22 kills, 11 digs and five blocks.
The Wildcats are back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host Iowa at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
