Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
No. 9 Penn State Handles Volleyball Team 3-0
10/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2002
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Fresh off its most impressive win of the season Wednesday night-a 3-0 victory over No. 15 Wisconsin-Northwestern's volleyball team was unable to match the same momentum Friday night. The Wildcats dropped a 23-30, 27-30, 21-30 decision at No. 9 Penn State to fall to 13-9 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions remain in a tie for first in the Big Ten with Minnesota, improving to 18-2 and 8-1.
Penn State dominated the match at the net, recording 16 team blocks compared to four for the 'Cats. The Nittany Lions also outhit NU .284-to-.175. Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) posted a match-high 12 kills for Northwestern. However, Lange, ranked first in the Big Ten and ninth nationally in blocks, was held without one on the night.
Sarah Ballog (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita) added 11 kills for the Wildcats, while setter Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Poly) tied a career-high with six kills to go along with 10 digs and 38 assists.
Ashley Pederson led Penn State with 10 kills. Robyn Goukas, who entered the night ranked second in the Big Ten in blocks behind Lange, tallied seven total blocks. PSU recorded a total of seven block solos and 18 block assists, compared to three and two for NU, respectively.
The Nittany Lions recorded 17 kills with only two errors on their way to hitting .395 in the Game 1 victory. Neither team hit exceptionally well in the second game, as Northwestern was able to hang tight, but was unable to pull out the victory. The Wildcats, who were hurt by 14 service errors in the match, committed 10 hitting errors in the third game as Penn State completed the sweep.
Northwestern will be off until next weekend when it returns to Evanston to kick off the second half of the Big Ten season. The Wildcats host a 7 p.m. Friday meeting with Ohio State before taking on Indiana at the same time Saturday.
