Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Wildcats Beat Iowa, 3-2
10/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Oct. 8, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - If any of Northwestern's freshmen were nervous about going on the road in the Big Ten for the first time this season -- not to mention their careers -- it definitely did not show in the `Cats 3-2 victory (30-22, 21-30, 28-30, 30-18, 15-10) over Iowa Friday night. The win marked the first conference victory of the season for NU, now 6-9 on the season and 1-4 in the Big Ten.
Freshmen Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) and Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) lit NU's offense with career-high kill totals of 28 and 21, respectively. Freshman Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) recorded two blocks along with eight kills.
While the freshmen came of age Friday, they were not the only ones to assault the stat sheet. Senior Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) was in the zone for the `Cats, recording a double-double - 64 assists and 11 digs. Paulus also had a double-double by adding 14 digs to her 28 kills.
Senior Leah Delcourt (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) had her best performance since gradually returning to the lineup after coming off a preseason finger injury. Delcourt started for the `Cats and posted a season-high nine kills and 3.5 blocks.
While the great individual efforts were hard to miss, the win was a total team effort, as five `Cats ended the night with double-digit dig totals and NU recorded seven service aces, 11 blocks, 78 kills and 85 digs.
"Today is a culmination of weeks of work," Head Coach Keylor Chan said. "It didn't happen in one day. We've been getting better everyday and need to continue to do so if we want to get to where we need to be."
After beating the Hawkeyes soundly in the opening frame, 30-21, NU dropped the next two games and found themselves in a hole. They dug themselves out of that hole in game four by jumping out to a 11-6 lead. Two consecutive kills by Paulus that painted the sideline widened the gap to 16-9. Aldridge landed one of her two service aces on the night and Delcourt had a key block to get NU to a 24-15 lead. Anderson then recorded three consecutive kills to close out the game, 30-18.
It was then on to the fifth-and-decisive game where the `Cats did not let off the gas pedal one bit. Four kills from Anderson, a pair of service aces from Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) and Paulus and Delcourt recording two key block assists sealed the victory for the `Cats.
"It's great to get our first win in the Big Ten under our belts," Robertson said. "Now we have to keep working and build on this win."
NU is next in action at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9 against No. 3 Minnesota.
