Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Volleyball Takes Last Home Match of the Season
11/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's volleyball team blocked their way to a victory over Iowa, 3-1 (30-25, 23-30, 30-25, 30-20), Friday night en route to snapping a nine-match losing streak.
NU (9-16, 5-13 Big Ten) had a total of 20.5 team blocks, second only to a 21-block performance at Loyola in October. Iowa (6-21, 3-15) had 11 team blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) reached her 300th career block as part of her 10 deflections of the night. Lange recorded a double-double, adding 10 kills to her blocks, while hitting .381.
Sophomore Molly Kamp (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) also had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Jill Buschur (New Bremen, Ohio/New Bremen) led the Wildcats with 15 kills, and junior Sarah Ballog (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita) led the team with a total of 11 blocks.
Iowa's Sara Meyermann had a match-high 28 kills but was held to a .151 hitting percentage. Meyermann also led the Hawkeye defense with 14 digs.
The 'Cats never trailed in Game One, but struggled to get ahead in Game Two and the Hawkeyes won the game.
By Game Three Northwestern took a healthy six-point lead and never relinquished. In Game Four Iowa committed 17 attack errors to seal their fate.
A pre-game highlight of Saturday's match was the national anthem, sung by NU sophomore defensive specialist Erica Knavel (Elm Grove, Wis./Elm Grove), who then went out and recorded a career-high nine digs.
With their fifth Big Ten win of the season, Northwestern has topped their conference record of the previous three seasons.
The Wildcats are on the road next Wednesday at No. 6 Wisconsin and next Saturday at Purdue to conclude the season.
