Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Northwestern Dumps Indiana, 3-1
10/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Led by a career night from junior Cassie McLaughlin (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove), Northwestern snapped a four-match skid by hitting .316 as a team and defeating Indiana Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in four games, 30-21, 30-20, 21-30, 30-21.
Northwestern improves to 11-7 overall this season with the win, 2-6 in the Big Ten. Indiana falls to 8-12, 1-7.
McLaughlin hit a perfect 8-for-8 in the second game of the match en route to tying her season-high with 15 kills. The Florida State transfer had a .619 attack percentage, besting her previous career-high of .615 set as a freshman against Wake Forest.
Junior Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky., Assumption) led NU with 16 kills, while sophomore Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) added 15 and sophomore Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) had a season-best 14 kills, one shy of her career high.
Junior setter Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) registered her second double-double of the year with 29 assists and 11 digs. Senior Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) posted a match-high 16 digs for NU.
NU led throughout game one of the match, but it was a tight contest. The Wildcats led 22-20 late in the game when sophomore Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) killed a ball for Northwestern. The 'Cats then scored seven of the final eight points, capped by a McLaughlin kill in a 30-21 win.
The Wildcats opened a big advantage much faster in game two. Leading by two, 12-10, NU went on an 8-3 run capped by a McLaughlin kill for a 20-13 lead.
Anderson closed out the second-game, 30-20 Wildcat win with a kill to give NU a 2-0 lead in the match.
Indiana reversed the trend in the third game, leading throughout and holding Northwestern to a .026 attack percentage. A 6-0 run late in the game propelled the Hoosiers to a 30-21 third game win.
The Wildcats built a 6-2 lead early in the fourth game, and never relinquished that advantage. Indiana cut the margin to one, 11-10, but an NU 7-2 run allowed Northwestern to run away with a 30-21 game four win and a 3-1 match victory.
The match was the Wildcats' fourth of the season to go more than three games. NU is 3-1 in those contests.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. CT, Friday, Oct. 21 at Michigan.
