Northwestern University Athletics
Season Recap: Young Team Displays Talent, Shows Promise
1/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Jan. 7, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - With the graduation of four key seniors that were instrumental in guiding the Northwestern volleyball program to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths in 2002 and 2003, the 2004 Wildcat team began the season with a number of fresh faces on the court.
The `Cats started at least four freshmen every match of the season, but the underclassmen had a pair of experienced co-captains to show them the ropes: Senior Drew Robertson (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) and junior Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) each forced school records to crumble by season's end, as the duo proved to be the concrete slab on which the season was built.
Robertson finished the season as Northwestern's career-assists leader with 5,126. Gardner, one of the Wildcats' best outside hitters in 2003, made the switch to libero to bolster the back row. Turns out she did not need much of a learning curve, as she already holds NU's single-season record for digs with 460 -- besting Jennifer Jostes' mark of 450.
The team was originally scheduled to travel to the University of Florida for the Gators' season-opening invitational tournament, Sept. 3-4. But Tropical Storm Gaston threatened the Wildcats' return trip, canceling the tournament.
No matter. Northwestern's staff scrambled and assembled a tournament of its own, welcoming IPFW, Bowling Green and Florida to the NU Labor Day Invitational.
The `Cats began the season with a tight, 3-2 victory over IPFW in a match that saw many of NU's freshmen grow up quickly. Redshirt freshman Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) started the match in a key role as the team's second setter, and not only filled that role by recording 21 assists, but also provided the `Cats some extra fire-power with 18 kills.
Freshmen middle blockers Stefanie Alde (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) quickly filled the void left behind by the graduation of all-Big Ten performer Erika Lange. The pair combined to total 23 kills and 10 block assists in helping the `Cats to a season-opening victory.
Jurivich led the `Cats with 13 kills to help sweep Bowling Green in the following match before the team fell to then-No. 4 Florida in the tournament's title match.
The `Cats embarked on a mini-road trip the next weekend to Loyola (Ill.), host of the Chicago Challenge, which also featured DePaul and Illinois-Chicago. NU received a rude awakening in its opening match against the host Ramblers, who swept the `Cats.
Freshman Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) helped the Northwestern bounce back against DePaul though, as she posted a team-leading 13 kills and her best hitting percentage of the year (.438) to help sweep the Blue Demons. An additional 12 kills in Northwestern's weekend-closing 3-1 win over Illinois-Chicago earned Paulus the first all-tournament team nod of her two-week old career.
The `Cats upped the ante on their next road trip, flying to then-No. 23 Long Beach State. The trip marked a homecoming for Robertson, who grew up in Long Beach, Calif. It was not all fun in the sun though, as the `Cats were swept by the 49ers in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
NU then returned home to host the Wildcat Classic, and opened the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Villanova. Paulus paced the team with 13 kills and 10 digs, notching the first double-double of her career. By the end of the tournament, she had claimed her second-straight all-tournament honors. NU dropped its remaining Wildcat Classic matches to Western Kentucky and eventual-national champion Stanford.
NU had finished non-conference competition with a 5-5 record and moved forward into the Big Ten schedule.
The `Cats got off to a rocky start by dropping their first four conference matches to Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois. The Nittany Lions, Buckeyes and Fighting Illini were all ranked in the nation's top-25 when they met NU.
In Iowa City, Iowa on Oct. 8, however, Northwestern earned its first Big Ten win in a 3-2 thriller over the Hawkeyes. If any of NU's freshmen were nervous about going on the road in the Big Ten for the first time in 2004 -- not to mention their careers -- it definitely did not show. Paulus and Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) lit NU's offense with career-high kill totals of 28 and 21, respectively.
"Our win against Iowa was 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."
The `Cats finished their first conference road trip with a loss to then-No. 3 Minnesota, but played the Golden Gophers extremely tough by dropping the final game by a mere three points.
NU continued to improve the following weekend when Purdue came to town. Jurivich and Anderson led the Wildcat offense with double-digit kill totals of 17 and 13, respectively, in a 3-1 victory over the once-nationally ranked Boilermakers.
The squad failed to capitalize on the momentum of two conference wins in three matches though, falling to Indiana in a tough 3-2 loss. Despite the loss, Robertson and Gardner still managed to have career nights. Robertson recorded her first-and-only career triple-double -- 11 kills, 27 digs, and 57 assists -- while Gardner posted career highs in digs (31) and assists (7).
After three losses to Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota, Robertson made history again in the Wildcats' third conference win at home against Iowa.
With Northwestern's 1984 Big Ten Championship team looking on, Roberson captured the school's all-time assists record. She powered the `Cats to a 3-0 win by recording a season-high assists tally for a three-game match with 49. That brought her career total to 4,789, surpassing the previous mark by Liz Renius of 4,743.
The `Cats next advanced through the meat of their road schedule though, and fell to Wisconsin before dropping matches to nationally-ranked Illinois, Ohio State and Penn State.
Northwestern returned to Welsh-Ryan Arena for its final home stretch of the season against Michigan State and Michigan. Paulus and Anderson led the `Cats with double-digit kill totals of 11 and 10, respectively, but it was not enough as the Spartans ran to a 3-0 win.
Seniors Leah Delcourt (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) and Robertson played the final home matches of their careers the following night against the Wolverines. Robertson posted 34 assists on the night, giving her 5,006 on her career -- becoming the first-and-only Wildcat to crack the 5,000 mark. Delcourt recorded four kills and also had a block assist, but the `Cats fell 3-0.
Northwestern saved two of their best matches of the year for the final weekend of the season on the road in Indiana. The squad squeezed out a 3-2 win (29-31, 30-25, 26-30, 30-24, 16-14) against the Hoosiers after 150 thrilling minutes of play to even the season series. Anderson notched a career-high 28 kills, tying her classmate Paulus for most kills in a match all season.
Then, in its final match of the year, Northwestern beat Purdue 3-2 to sweep the season-series and finish the year with two-consecutive wins. The team went the distance of five games for the second-consecutive night, and for the second-consecutive night, the `Cats turned to sophomore Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) in the decisive game to lead them to victory. After recording a team-leading five kills in the final game of the Indiana match, Purcell one-upped herself by nailing eight kills in the closing game to upset the Boilermakers.
The win was the 10th of the year for the `Cats, marking the fourth-consecutive year Chan has led Northwestern to a double-digit win total.
With the graduation of Robertson and Delcourt, the `Cats will not be able to rely on the duo's leadership next season. However, a host of young, talented players, who earned a great deal of experience against the nation's top teams, will return for Chan in 2005 as the `Cats gear up for another run at an NCAA Tournament berth.
