Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois-Chicago
NU Improves to 4-2
9/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- After dominating DePaul to the tune of a 3-0 win in game one of its doubleheader Saturday, NU improved to 4-2 on the year with a 3-1 victory over Illinois-Chicago in its final match of the Chicago Challenge.
NU was hitting on all cylinders with a hitting percentage of .230, 7.0 blocks and 73 digs.
"We were playing with a lot of confidence," head coach Keylor Chan said. "And when we play with that confidence level and the high level of intensity that we had, we can be tough to beat."
The `Cats got the closest thing they saw to a challenge in the marathon that was the opening game. NU jumped out to a quick 5-0 run, but Flames' head coach Nancy Mueller called a timeout to stop the bleeding and got her team back into the game from that point on.
Even as NU extended their lead to 15-7, the Flames fought back and eventually went ahead 27-25. A pair of monster kills by sophomore Julie Purcell and freshman Stefanie Aldridge, along with a service ace by junior Lizzie Carlson knotted the game at 29.
Then, it was Illinois-Chicago's turn as Jordan Studzinski put the Flames back on top 30-29. True freshman Courtnie Paulus--who had a career weekend with 32 kills--delivered with three kills to tie the teams back up at 32. The teams traded points again to get to 33-33, but Illinois-Chicago finally finished the marathon, 35-33.
After dropping the first game, the `Cats were lights out in all areas of their game.
They jumped out to another quick lead in game two, 8-2, and piled on with an offensive outburst of seven straight points to get the game to 17-7. Mueller called another timeout, but this time, the coach couldn't fire her Flames up. They never really threatened again and NU went on to win 30-22.
"I think we all felt much more comfortable out there today than we had in the past," Paulus said. "We weren't over-thinking. We were just having fun out there."
In game three, NU jumped out to yet another quick lead of 12-7 thanks to the consistently strong play of Paulus and Purcell, who finished the match with a combined 29 kills. A finesse kill by Purcell got the `Cats to 14-9 before she followed up on the next two plays with a pair of fierce kills that ricocheted off defenders out of bounds. NU had their biggest lead of the game at 16-9, but the Flames would not go quietly.
Studzinski brought them back to within striking distance at 25-22, but a key block by Aldridge and Jurivich got NU to game point. Senior co-captain Drew Robertson took care of the rest by polishing off the Flames with a perfectly-timed dink shot over the middle. Robertson filled the stat sheet up with a double-double: 52 assists and 24 digs.
"We played really well across the board," Chan said. "It wasn't as good as we can be by any means, but I was very pleased with the girls' effort tonight."
The offense wasn't the only highlight of NU's play. Junior libero Christie Gardner recorded 17 digs, most of which came with a side-order of serious floor burns. She was diving all over the place, making save after save for the `Cats in the back row. Gardner also brought down the hammer late in the final game by recording a service ace with her jump serve.
Another top performer for the `Cats was freshman middle blocker Brittney Aldridge, who made her defensive presence known for the `Cats by notching three block assists along with one solo.
