Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Set to Open Conference Slate
9/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After opening the season with seven road matches, the Northwestern University women's volleyball team returned to the friendly confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena for the Hampton Inn & Suites Wildcat Classic and promptly put some matches into the win column. NU swept the tournament, posting victories over Towson (3-2), Buffalo (3-1) and Cleveland State (3-1). Rookie Erika Lange was the offensive catalyst for the Wildcats, sending home 4.48 kills per game, including 23 against Towson. She was voted the MVP after recording 55 total kills and hitting .505 for the tournament. Teammates Sarah Ballog and Carmen Burbach joined Lange on the all-tournament team.
Lange continues to lead the 'Cats offensively, averaging 3.42 kills per game. Just as dangerous at the net, Lange has stuffed the opponents attacks 50 times this season to rank second on the team in blocking. On defense, freshman Lindsay Pavlik and Burbach led the way, picking up 3.00 digs per game. Burbach is close to joining the elite 1,000-1,000 club, as she needs just 79 digs to enter the club. Burbach surpassed the 1,000-kill mark in Hawaii in the match against Oregon, she has 1,051 career kills.
Scouting the Hoosiers
Indiana suffered the first blemish of its season against Loyola Marymount on Friday (0-3), but bounced back with strong victories over Marquette and Duke (3-0) on Saturday. The Hoosiers went 3-1 on the week, defeating Indiana State on Tuesday and going 2-1 at the Blimpie Hoosier Invitational over the weekend. Freshman Nicole Hiu was deadly in the two tournament victories, averaging 5.3 kills and hitting .435 percent. IU is now 9-1 on the season. The Hoosiers return seven letterwinners, including three starters from a team that went 20-11 last season. IU is currently led by Hillary Toivonen who averages 4.44 kills and 4.15 digs per game.
The Series: Wildcats vs. Indiana
Series Record: Indiana leads 19-18
Most Recent Meeting: Nov. 12, 1999 in Bloomington (IU 3, NU 0)
First Meeting: Oct. 26, 1978 in Evanston (NU 3, IU 0)
Last NU win in Evanston: Oct. 14, 1998 (15-6, 15-9, 15-4)
Last IU win in Evanston: Sept. 25, 1999 (15-8, 5-15, 5-15, 7-15)
Scouting the Lions
Another perfect week for the No. 3 Nittany Lions included the 700th career victory for head coach Russ Rose. The benchmark win was a 3-0 victory over West Virginia on Friday evening. Rose is only the fifth coach in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. His Lions have prevailed in 11 straight matches and have compiled an eye-popping win streak of 32 straight games, dating back to a 3-1 win over Florida on
August 26. PSU boasts a 68-0 record in the month of September dating back to 1995. Last week's victims included Villanova, Eastern Kentucky and Fairfield in addition to WVU. The Nittany Lions are led by Mishka Levy, who averages 4.00 kills per game, and Hilary Sexton on defense with 2.90 digs per game. The Lions are outhitting their opponents, .295 to .116.
The Series: Wildcats vs. Penn State
Series Record: Penn State leads 20-6
Most Recent Meeting: Oct. 30, 1999 in State College (PSU 3, NU 0)
First Meeting: Nov. 29, 1981 in Evanston (NU 3, PSU 0)
Last NU win in Evanston: Nov. 23, 1991 (15-7, 5-15, 15-7, 2-15, 15-10)
Last PSU win in Evanston: Oct. 8, 1999 (8-15, 4-15, 2-15)
Chan, Briefly
Keylor Chan is in his first season as head coach at Northwestern after spending a year at the helm of the Furman University program.
In his only season at Furman, Chan guided the Paladins to an 18-15 overall mark, including a 13-7 conference mark. While under Chan's direction, the Paladins climbed 22 positions from 167th to 145th in the Sagarin Power Rating. Prior to his tenure at Furman, Chan was an assistant coach for the Wildcats for two seasons.
During his time at Northwestern, Chan helped improve NU's rank in the Sagarin Power Rating from 175th to 38th.
Return to Sender
After 10 matches, it's clear that one of the strengths of the Wildcats will be their defense at the net. Sophomore middle blocker Sarah Ballog leads NU with 51 total blocks and freshman middle blocker Erika Lange is a close second with 50 total blocks, seven of which are solo. Ballog is averaging 1.34 and Lange 1.32 per game. The duo rank sescond and third, respectively in the conference in blocks. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 2.80 blocks per game to rank second in the Big Ten behind Michigan State with 2.90 per game.
79 and Counting
Carmen Burbach is on track to join six other Wildcats in the 1,000-1,000 club. Burbach already has 1,051 kills, and she is 79 digs shy of becoming the seventh member of this elite club. Burbach is averaging 3.00 digs per game, and at that rate should reach 1,000 digs in 27 games.
Making History
Senior outside hitter Carmen Burbach joined the prestigious 1,000-kill club at the Wahine Challenge. Against Oregon, Burbach became the 15th Wildcat in history to reach the milestone with her fourth kill of the night. She currently has a career total of 1,051.
Lange Named 'Most Outstanding Player'
Erika Lange was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2000 Hampton Inn & Suites Wildcat Classic. She recorded 55 kills and 19 blocks during the tournament.
All-Tournament Team
Erika Lange was named to the Aston Imua Wahine Challenge all-tournament team (9/8-9/10) for her outstanding play. Lange led the 'Cats during the tournament with 33 kills and 15 blocks. One week later, Sarah Ballog and Carmen Burbach were named to the Hampton Inn & Suites Wildcat Classic all-tournament team.
Around the League
Big Ten play began on Wednesday, Sept. 20 as Michigan and Michigan State squared off in East Lansing. As a league, the Big Ten has posted an 89-22 record in non-conference action this season, good for an .802 winning percentage. Indiana and Michigan are the only teams with non-league opponents remaining on their schedules. The Big Ten was 32-4 last week as Ohio State and Minnesota kept their records unblemished.
Last Time Out
Northwestern (3-7) won its third consecutive match, 3-1, over Cleveland State (6-4) in the final match of the Hampton Inn & Suites Wildcat Classic Saturday. Freshman Erika Lange was voted the tournament's most outstanding player. Northwestern won a smooth first game, 15-6, but Cleveland State stormed back in a long second game to win, 17-15. The Cats returned to form for the third game, winning 15-5, before closing out the match 15-6 in the fourth. Lange led the Wildcats with 17 kills and had a .556 hitting percentage in the final. Lindsay Pavlik recorded 15 kills and three service aces, and all-tournament player Sarah Ballog had 11 kills and a team-high nine blocks. Carmen Burbach, also all-tournament, had 24 digs in the match. Cleveland State was led by Molly Hoying's 18 kills.
2000 Captains Named
Seniors Jennifer Armson and Carmen Burbach were named co-captains for the 2000 volleyball season.
Fresh(men) Faces
The 2000 Northwestern volleyball team features seven new faces. Jill Buschur, Leah Delcourt, Molly Kamp, Erica Knavel, Erika Lange, Traci Lato and Lindsay Pavlik join seven letterwinners from a year ago, including three starters.
Lange, a 6-3 middle blocker, headlines the group. She was one of the most highly-touted players in Illinois. In her junior year at Carl Sandburg, Lange helped lead the team to its first-ever state championship title. The Volleyball Magazine National Fab 50 honoree holds the Sandburg record in kills in a season (362), career kills (901) and career solo blocks (284).
Heavy Competition
The Wildcats will have a tough row to hoe this season as they have another arduous schedule. In all, Northwestern will take on nine nationally ranked teams. NU opened the 2000 schedule with then-No. 6 Nebraska and followed that with a match against then-No. 13 Colorado State. The 'Cats travelled to Hawai'i to take on the then-No. 6 Rainbows. Not suprisingly, all three teams are ranked in the top four this week. This weekend, the Wildcats take on the other team in that elite quartet ? No. 3 Penn State. After this weekend, Northwestern will have played the top four teams in the country, and it doesn't end there, as the conference boasts five other teams in the Top 25 with Minnesota checking in at No. 9, Wisconsin at No. 14, Michigan State at No. 17, Michigan at No. 21, and Ohio State at No. 25.
Chan Names Volleyball Assistants
Josh Grau and Valerie Jones were named assistant volleyball coaches at Northwestern University by head coach Keylor Chan. Grau comes to Northwestern from Texas, while Jones comes from the University of California-Davis.
Grau, a native of Tampa, Fla., spent last season as the volunteer assistant coach at the University of Texas. Grau is a 1997 graduate of the University of Florida, where he was a four-year member of the Gator volleyball team.
Jones brings a wealth of experience to the Wildcat coach staff. Last season she was the assistant at UC-Davis. Prior to her tenure at UC-Davis, Jones spent a season at Utah State University as an assistant. Jones was a three-sport athlete at Tampa, playing volleyball, basketball and softball.
'Cats Picked to Finish 11th in Conference
The Northwestern volleyball team was picked to finish 11th in 2000 by a vote of the League head coaches. Penn State, the 1999 NCAA volleyball champion, was chosen to repeat as Conference champion. The Gophers are picked to finish second while Wisconsin, Michigan State and Michigan round out the top five.
