Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Finish Season at Indiana and Purdue This Weekend
11/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Nov. 23, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern (8-20, 3-15 Big Ten) hits the road this Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27 for a season-ending weekend of competition against Indiana and Purdue. The Wildcats aim to even the season series with the Hoosiers Friday before attempting to end the season on a positive note Saturday by sweeping the series from the Boilermakers.
Indiana (8-21, 2-16) has dropped its previous eight matches, with its last conference win coming against Iowa Oct. 23. NU and Indiana's match earlier this season yielded a win for the Hoosiers, 3-2 (29-31, 30-22, 30-28, 27-30, 15-17). As the dust from the five-game, marathon match finally settled, senior Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) had recorded the first triple-double of her career by going for 11 kills, 27 digs and 57 assists.
The Hoosiers' Mandy Eberle has 114.0 total blocks in the conference, ranking seventh, while Tasha Arsenych's 11.52 assists per game ranks eighth in the Big Ten. Indiana is led on offense by Katie Pollom, who has 406 kills on the year, for a 3.72 average kills per game. Christinia Archiblad is a close second with 390 kills, averaging 3.58 per game.
This past weekend, Pollom led IU with 13 kills in the Hoosiers' 3-0 loss to No. 5 Minnesota, while freshman Juli Pierce posted a double-double with 14 digs and 10 assists.
Purdue (15-13, 8-10) has won three of its last four matches, including a thrilling upset of No. 25 Illinois in five games Nov. 13. This past weekend, Purdue picked up its first season sweep of Iowa since 1998, while garnering its eighth conference win for the first time since the 1998 with a 3-0 sweep of the Hawkeyes Sunday afternoon.
The Boilermakers' offense is one of the most consistent in the Big Ten. It currently ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage with a .258 average off of 1,768 kills. Purdue is also the only team to have two players ranked in the top six in total kills. Leah Wischmeier and Kim McConaha rank fifth and sixth with 4.13 and 4.10 per game, respectively. McConaha brings a defensive edge to her game as well, ranking ninth in total blocks with 1.11 per game.
Renata Dargan averages 13.32 assists per game, ranking third in the conference. Brittany Dildine also ranks third in the conference in service aces per game with an average of .34.
NU continues to be led on offense by its freshmen Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) and Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee). The duo has put up a combined 485 kills and average a little over 3.00 kills per game. Junior co-captain Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend) ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 405 digs and a 4.22 average per game.
Wildcats' All-Time Record Against Indiana and Purdue
The Series with the Hoosiers
All-Time Series: Indiana leads 25-21
Most Recent Meeting: Oct. 16, 2004 (IU, 3-2)
2004 Record: 6-10 (11-13 Big Ten)
The Series with the Boilermakers
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 37-20
Most Recent Meeting: Oct. 15, 2004 (NU, 3-1)
2004 Record: 8-21 (2-16, Big Ten)
