Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Wildcats Fall in Big Ten Opener, 3-0
9/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Sept. 24, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern fell to No. 4 Penn State in three close games (30-25, 30-24, 30-24) in its Big Ten season opener Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The `Cats record now stands at 5-6 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten, while Penn State improved to 10-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten.
For much of the night, NU's defense kept the Nittany Lions' offense in check, posting a season-high 12 blocks. Most of the blocks came from freshmen Stefanie Alde (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) and Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Illl/Hampshire) as the trio hounded Penn State's hitters all night and recorded 8.5 blocks between them.
On the offensive end, sophomore Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) had a team-high 12 kills, with a .265 hitting percentage.
Senior setter and co-captain Drew Robertson kept the `Cats close all night by recording a double-double with 34 assists and 16 digs.
But Syndie Nadeau and Kate Price of Penn State proved too much for NU, as the duo recorded 22 kills between them.
A positive for NU was getting senior middle blocker Leah Delcourt (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) back on the court Friday night. Delcourt played sparingly, as she is coming off a finger injury that kept her on the sidelines for nonconference action, but will provide great experience for the young team.
The `Cats are in action at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 against No. 20 Ohio State.
