Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Northwestern Throttles Iowa, 3-0
11/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2005
Box Score
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Fresh off an intense upset of No. 17 Minnesota on the road, Northwestern made things much, much less nerve-wracking Saturday night at Carver Hawkeye Arena, dominating Iowa in a 3-0 sweep, 30-21, 30-20, 30-23.
With the win, the Wildcats extend their current winning streak to four matches -- their longest Big Ten streak since 1988. Northwestern now is 16-10 overall, 7-9 in the conference. Iowa falls to 14-15, 4-12 with the loss.
Senior Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) broke her fourth Northwestern dig record in NU's last five matches. Gardner finished with 23 digs on the night to give her 464 on the season, surpassing her own single-season mark of 460 established last year.
On Oct. 29 at No. 3 Penn State, Gardner set NU's career digs record, then broke the school's single-match mark with 36 digs against No. 15 Purdue in the very next match. Last night at No. 17 Minnesota, she re-established the single-match record with 37 digs.
Northwestern flew out to the first lead of the match, turning an 8-8 tie into an 18-9 advantage with a 10-1 run midway through game one.
From there, the Wildcats cruised to a 1-0 lead in the match with a 30-21 first-game win on an impressive defensive effort. Gardner dug every ball in sight, recording 10 digs in the first game. Northwestern held Iowa to a -.045 hitting percentage.
The Wildcats led from the start in game two, scoring four of the first five points in the game before using an 8-3 run to open an eight-point cushion, 14-6. Northwestern did not let Iowa get closer than six the rest of the way, winning the second game, 30-20.
If the 'Cat defense was strong in the first game, then the Northwestern offense was just plain silly in the second. The Wildcats hit .441 in the frame with just three attack errors (18-3-34).
Iowa came out in game three and kept Northwestern close early. With the score tied, 10-10, the Wildcats put together a 4-0 spurt to take a 14-10 lead.
The Hawkeyes refused to let the Wildcats run away, eventually closing to within two, 20-18. Northwestern responded with a 7-1 run to take a commanding 27-19 lead before winning the game, 30-23, and the match, 3-0.
Sophomore Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) led the Wildcats with 15 kills on the night, while classmate Brittney Aldridge added 11 kills and a team-best .421 hitting percentage.
As a team, Northwestern hit .267 and held Iowa to just an .015 attack percentage. The Wildcats outdug the Hawkeyes, 63-51.
Senior Lizzie Carlson (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) chipped in with 10 digs for NU. Carlson reached the 1,000 dig plateau for her career in the match, finishing with 1,004.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, when it hosts Michigan State at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
