Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Host Indiana and Purdue This Weekend
10/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2003
IU-Purdue Match Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern volleyball returns home to Welsh-Ryan Arena after an inhospitibale weekend on the road. The 'Cats were swept in Michigan, dropping their second- and third-consecutive games. With an 11-9 overall record and 2-6 mark in the Big Ten, the time is now for Northwestern if it has postseason hopes.
Leading the Wildcats this season is Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill/Carl Sandburg), who owns a 4.03 kills per game average and a .371 hitting percentage. Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) anchors NU's offense with an average of 12.73 assists per game.
Indiana enters the weekend in a three-way tie for eighth place with NU and Ohio State in the league standings. The Hoosiers were swept last week, unable to put a stop to a current six-match losing streak. Travel partner Purdue took three of four (30-28, 30-26, 21-30, 30-28) while Wisconsin played spoiler on the road after winning in five (29-31, 31-29, 30-19, 27-3, 15-12).
Christina Archibald leads the Hoosiers with 4.33 kills per game while Melissa Brewer holds a .306 attack percentage. Indiana averages one more kill per game than their opponents (15.6) and holds even with 2.1 blocks per game. Their 13.4 digs per game is slightly higher that their opponents' 13.2.
Purdue is one of the league surprises this season, tied for fifth in Big Ten standings with a 5-3 conference record, 12-6 overall. The Boilermakers have split their last six matches, recently beating IU in four and losing to Wisconsin in four (30-28, 30-19, 29-31, 30-28).
Kim McConaha is playing well for Purdue with an average of 3.92 kills per game and a .265 attack percent. The Boilermakers lead their opponents in all major statistical categories: kills per game (16.7 to 15.1), assists per game (15.3 to 13.9), service aces per game (1.6 to 1.1), digs per game (13.9 to 13.3) and blocks per game (2.5 to 2.3).
Friday is Kids' Club Night. Members of the Wildcat Kids' Club will receive free admission with a valid membership.
Saturday is homecoming at NU and fans with a Northwestern-Wisconsin football ticket stub will receive a free admission into the NU-Purdue volleyball match.
