Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Head East to Face Penn State, Ohio State
10/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Riding high off a two-game home sweep last weekend, the NU volleyball team is eager to continue its momentum when it faces Penn State Friday night in State College, Pa. and Ohio State Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio.
Last week the Wildcats (13-9 overall, 4-6 Big Ten) got another stellar performance from senior middle blocker Erika Lange (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), who compiled a total of 28 kills, five digs and 14 blocks against Indiana and Purdue.
Northwestern also got a big boost from junior middle blocker Leah Delcourt (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island), who notched season-highs of seven kills and a .417 attack percentage against the Hoosiers. The Hilton Garden Athlete of the Week followed up her career night with a .500 hitting percentage and four block assists against Purdue.
"We hope Leah has a repeat performance of last weekend," said head coach Keylor Chan. "She has been working extra hard with (associate head coach) Josh Grau this week. If she has another great night, it will make us that much better."
NU will face a powerful offense when it goes head-to-head with the Nittany Lions (18-4, 7-3), who are ranked 17th in the latest USA Today/AVCA Coaches' Poll. Outside hitter Ashley Pederson tallied a career-high 27 kills last Saturday in a five-game loss to Wisconsin. She leads the team with 4.04 kills per game.
The Wildcats will also have to be wary of Erin Iceman, who also had a career-high in kills, pounding out 20 against the Badgers.
"Penn State is a well-balanced team," said Chan. "We will try our best to contain hitters like Pederson and Iceman to make sure they don't have career highs against us. It will be a fun match."
The Buckeyes (8-10, 2-8) will be a different type of threat. They are coming off of road losses to Penn State and Wisconsin, and will be looking to string together some wins in the second-half of the Big Ten schedule for any chance at a postseason.
Ohio State is led by 2002 AVCA All-American Stacey Gordon, who averages 6.33 kills, .37 aces and 3.39 digs per game. Gordon is helped by setter Briana McCarthy and her 10.80 assists per game.
Friday's and Saturday's matches are both scheduled to start at 7 p.m. (Eastern).
