Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Wildcat Volleyball Team Sweeps No. 15 Wisconsin, 3-0
10/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - All season long, the Northwestern volleyball team has been looking for a victory to point to its arrival on the Big Ten scene. Despite entering their match with No. 15 Wisconsin tied for third place in the Big Ten, the Wildcats were still looking for their first victory of the season over a ranked opponent. Wednesday night was that night, as NU posted a three-game sweep of the Badgers 30-22, 43-41, 30-24 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) recorded a match-high 19 kills and Iwona Lodzik (Tarnobrzeg, Poland/Tarnobrzeg) added 14 kills and 11 digs for the Wildcats. NU outhit Wisconsin .294-to-.240.
NU came out of the gates fired up, storming out to a 14-7 lead. Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis.) led the early charge with a pair of kills and a block assist. The 'Cats' lead grew as high as 22-11 in the game. The Badgers rallied to within 26-21, but Northwestern scored four of the game's final five points to get the win.
The Wildcats hit .349 in the opening game and were paced by five kills apiece by Lodzik and Kelli Meyer (Madison, Wis./Edgewood). But it was the fired up play of Gardner, who was competing against her sister Korie, that sparked NU.
Game 2 proved to be the game that would never seem to end. Wisconsin appeared firmly in control of the frame, as Sheila Shaw served 10 consecutive times to help turn a 18-15 Badger deficit into a 25-18 lead.
But somehow, Northwestern battled back, scoring 11 of the next 14 points to take a 29-28 lead. That's when things got crazy.
Wisconsin served for the game on eight occasions, but the Wildcats continually turned the visitors away. The see-saw battle continued on with UW leading 41-40, when Jill Odenthal's service error gave the serve back to Northwestern.
An Erin Byrd attack was blocked by Meyer and Sarah Ballog (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita), followed by a kill by Lodzik, giving the 'Cats the marathon victory and a two games-to-none lead. The 84 combined points in the game account for the longest game in Northwestern's history.
Lange recorded nine kills in the game, while Byrd attempted a remarkable 27 attacks in the set.
In the third game, Wisconsin was able to hang with Northwestern for a while, but the Wildcats' momentum proved to be too much to overcome. With the NU holding a slight 19-18 lead, it scored six of the next seven points to go ahead 25-19 behind three kills by Lange.
UW never got closer than five the rest of the way, as Northwestern gained sole possession of third place in the Big Ten.
Sophomore setter Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Poly) played a stellar game for the Wildcats, recording 46 assists.
The Wildcats will face another stiff test Friday when they travel to State College, Pa. to take on No. 9 Penn State.
