Northwestern University Athletics
The 2002 Season in Review
12/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 20, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - While the Starship Enterprise has boldly gone where no man has ever gone before, the 2002 Northwestern University volleyball team accomplished quite a few things that no Wildcat team has experienced in a number of years.
By virtue of their 17-16 overall record and 10-10 finish in the Big Ten, the 'Cats finished with their most overall victories since 1990 and picked up double-digit Big Ten wins for the first time since 1988.
Three times during the season, Northwestern received votes in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 Poll, marking the first time it has been recognized since the 1998 season.
The season opened with three straight victories at the Spring Hill Suites Invitational in Charlotte, N.C. In her first weekend of play as a Wildcat, Iwona Lodzik (Tarnobrzeg, Poland/Tarnobrzeg) took MVP honors at the tournament, a performance that earned her NU's first Big Ten Player of the Week honor since 1997.
After facing stiff competition in tournaments at San Diego and Notre Dame, the 'Cats returned home for the annual Wildcat Classic. The team was dealt a blow in the opening match against DePaul, as Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), who earned all-tournament team honors at the previous three invitationals, went down with an ankle injury and missed the remainder of the tournament. Northwestern went on to post a 2-1 record in the Classic and a 7-5 nonconference mark overall, the school's best pre-Big Ten start in four seasons.
Northwestern hit the road for the opening weekend of Big Ten play and came away with a pair of dramatic five-game victories at Illinois and Purdue. The victory over the Illini at Huff Hall was NU's first win there since 1984. Lodzik collected team season highs of 26 kills and 22 digs in the win over the Boilermakers. The 2-0 conference road start was the Wildcats' first since 1987.
Lange put forth a dominating performance in Northwestern's Big Ten home opener against Iowa. The junior recorded 20 kills in the three-game sweep, while hitting a career-high .607.
Following a loss to Minnesota, the Wildcats proved they would not crack under pressure, posting their third consecutive five-game road win, defeating Indiana.
Losses to Ohio State and Michigan State sandwiched a victory over Michigan, when Wisconsin came to Evanston Oct. 23. An emotional three-game sweep over the 15th-ranked Badgers was one for the record books. The 'Cats won the second game of the match 43-41, marking the longest game in Big Ten history under rally scoring. At the time, it was the third most points ever scored in a game in Division I history. The win also marked the first time NU defeated Wisconsin since 1988.
Four consecutive losses followed the victory over the Badgers, but Northwestern responded down the stretch as it aimed to lock up an NCAA berth. The 'Cats got back on track with a four-game win at Iowa. Lange recorded 23 kills and seven blocks while Lodzik added 20 digs. Another pair of four-game victories at home against Purdue and Illinois gave the Wildcats a 9-7 Big Ten record.
NU carried the momentum into Madison Nov. 20 when it faced Wisconsin for the second time. The 'Cats appeared to be firmly in control of the match after winning the first two games, but the Badgers showed why they are one of the top teams on their home court in the country, rallying for a five-game victory.
Senior Night against No. 13 Penn State followed three days later, as the Wildcats saluted their five seniors. After dropping the opening game, the 'Cats bounced back to win the final three games for the emotional victory over a team that dominated it in the first meeting.
Sitting two matches above .500 heading into the final two matches of the season, Northwestern appeared to be on the verge of the elusive bid to the NCAA Tournament. Things looked particularly good when the 'Cats held a two games-to-one lead and a 24-19 advantage in the fourth game against Michigan State. However, the Spartans turned the match around and came back to hand the Wildcats a disheartening five-game loss.
A loss the following night to Michigan appeared as though it may burst Northwestern's tournament bubble. Perhaps with fate on their side, the Wildcats' name still came up when the tournament pairings were announced the following night, sending the team to the Big Dance for the first time since 1984.
NU gave 20th-ranked Missouri all that it could handle in the opening round of the tournament, but it wasn't quite enough to keep its season alive. The Tigers topped the Wildcats in four games in a match that could have gone either way. Trailing 29-23 in the fourth game, Northwestern remarkably scored seven straight points to take a 30-29 lead. In all, the 'Cats fought off 11 match points before finally succumbing to Missouri, 40-38. The 78 points tied the record for the longest game in NCAA Tournament history.
Lange earned the team's first All-Big Ten first team selection since Jackie Nu?ez and Madelyn Meneghetti earned the honor in 1984. Lange was one of five unanimous selections to the squad. She also became the first Northwestern player to be named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Mideast Region team, an award that dates back to 1986.
Lange finished first in Big Ten matches with a 1.46 blocks-per-game average, second with a .347 hitting percentage and third in kills, averaging 4.30 per game. Her overall hitting percentage of .343 shattered the previous NU single-season record of .306.
Sophomore setter Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Poly) broke the school record for assists in a season by recording 1,515, an average of 12.02 per game. Senior Sarah Ballog (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita) finished her Wildcat career ranked third in school history with 349 block assists and sixth with 397 total blocks. Fellow senior captain Kelli Meyer (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) became the first player in Northwestern history to tally over 2,000 assists, 600 kills and 500 digs.
