Northwestern University Athletics
Volleyball Set to Open Big Ten Season at Home Wednesday
9/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. -
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After beginning the 2003 season with a strong 9-3 record, the Northwestern volleyball team takes to their home court this Wednesday for the year's first Big Ten match. Coming to town is rival Illinois, which finished ninth in the conference a year ago. Game time is set for 7 pm.
The Wildcats are poised to turn some heads again this season after a groundbreaking season in '02, reaching the NCAA's for the first time in 18 years and finishing in a tie for sixth place in the league. Fifteen seasons have passed since Northwestern finished a campaign ranked in the top-five in the Big Ten, but with a strong start to the season and eight skilled veterans familiar with conference competition, the Wildcats have the pieces in place to build on its success of a year ago.
NU is coming off its first home weekend, going 3-1 in the Wildcat Classic. The Wildcats swept Chicago State (30-16, 30-15, 30-24) and North Carolina (30-24, 31-29, 30-28), a Sweet Sixteen team in 2002, before falling to #3 and 2002 Final Four team Florida (30-18, 30-20, 30-20).
Three Wildcats were recognized for their outstanding play in the tournament, including all-America and Big Ten Player of the Year candidate Erika Lange who recorded 38 kills, two solo blocks, and a .438 hitting percentage, including a career-high .733 percentage vs. Chicago State on Saturday. Lange set a Northwestern record for block assists last weekend, reaching 452 after Saturday's Chicago State match. She surpassed Liz Douglass' previous mark of 448, which was set 20 years ago.
All-Big Ten candidates Iwona Lodzik and Drew Robertson also were named to the all-tournament team. Lodzik led the Wildcats with 45 kills on the weekend and had 16 digs, while Robertson recorded 117 assists in the tournament. Robertson is now in third place overall on the school's career assists chart.
Illinois comes into this week's match with a 9-1 mark, their best start under the direction of head coach Don Hardin since the 1997 squad also went 9-1 in nonconference play. The Fighting Illini boast a league-best eight-match winning streak, which was extended last weekend vs. Loyola and at Butler.
Their lone loss came at the hands of No. 7 Nebraska (30-27, 30-20, 30-20) at the Illinois State Tournament.
Five of the Illini's 10 matches this season have gone to four or more games, with their match vs. Loyola going to four (30-27 30-21, 23-30, 30-22) and their win at Butler coming in five (26-30, 30-23, 30-26, 28-30, 15-6).
Senior middle blocker Shelly O'Bryan led the Illini to their wins last week. She had 10 kills on match-high .400 hitting vs. Loyola and tied her career high with 16 kills on .481 hitting against Butler. She equaled her blocking figures from the Loyola match, tying her season high with seven blocks. For the week, O'Bryan averaged 2.9 kills and 1.6 blocks per game on combined .447 hitting.
Gates open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. start. For ticket information, call the Wildcat Ticket Office at (847) 491 CATS or visit NUsports.com.
