Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Wildcats Outrun Hoosiers, 3-1, to Close Regular Season
11/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In a match that saw each team's runs answered by the other, Northwestern closed the regular season with a 3-1 win Friday night over Indiana at University Gym, 30-25, 35-33, 23-30, 30-27, to finish with its best record since 1988.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 19-11 overall, its most wins since the 1988 squad went 20-14. The Wildcats finish sixth in the Big Ten with a 10-10 conference mark, their best placing since 2002.
Indiana falls to 9-22 overall, 2-17 with the loss.
The win was the 99th of Northwestern head coach Keylor Chan's career.
The Wildcats now await the NCAA Tournament selection show, which will be broadcast live on ESPNews at 1:30 p.m. CT Sunday afternoon. In Northwestern's previous two appearances in the tourney under Chan, it finished the regular season with records of 17-15 (2002) and 18-14 (2003). NU tied for sixth in the Big Ten in 2002 and was seventh in 2003.
With the score tied, 8-8, in game one, Northwestern reeled off four-consecutive points to take the initial advantage, 12-8. A 7-1 Wildcat run later in the game gave Northwestern a 19-11 lead and forced an Indiana timeout.
The Hoosiers broke the huddle with a 7-1 run of their own to close the gap to two, 20-18. Northwestern maintained its lead the rest of the way in a 30-25 first game win.
Indiana led throughout the beginning of game two, but never by more than three. Northwestern tied the score, 11-11, on a block by sophomores Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) and Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier).
The Wildcats built a three-point lead, 15-12, before the Hoosiers tied the game again, 17-17. Indiana then took the advantage back by three, 24-21, but Northwestern scored three straight to knot the score, 24-24, and force an IU timeout.
Indiana rocketed out of the break to take a 29-25 advantage and earn four game points. Northwestern fought off the whole lot of them, tying the game, 29-29, on a kill by freshman Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere).
Thrice more Indiana won a game point, and thrice more NU evened the game. A block by Aldridge and Anderson finally gave the Wildcats their first game-point try, 33-32, but this time the Hoosiers were equal to the task.
A bad set from Indiana gave Northwestern its second game point, and this time Hyser and Anderson blocked a ball to finally give the Wildcats a 35-33 game two win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The game two win was the second-biggest comeback for Northwestern this season after its opponent had earned game point. On Oct. 21 at Michigan, the Wildcats won game three after being down 29-24.
Riding its momentum, Northwestern opened a quick 7-2 lead in game three. Following the evening's trend of comebacks, Indiana quickly put together an 11-3 run to take a 13-10 advantage.
The Hoosiers eventually made that lead eight, 24-16, before winning game three, 30-23.
Indiana opened game four with a 4-0 lead before Hyser broke through for a kill to spark a 6-0 Northwestern run. The Hoosiers eventually took the lead back, 17-14, and Chan called timeout. A 3-0 NU run out of the break evened the score, 17-17, and forced an IU timeout.
With the score tied, 24-24, Aldridge got a kill to give the Wildcats their first lead since early in the game and ignite a 3-0 NU spurt for a 27-24 lead. The 'Cats finally put the Hoosiers away, 30-27, after an IU ball handling error.
Sophomore Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) finished with a season-best 17 kills for Northwestern. Anderson recorded 14 kills and 14 digs for a double-double, while junior Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) also had a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs for NU.
Hyser chipped in 10 kills on a .364 hitting percentage (10-2-22).
Senior Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) led the 'Cats with 15 digs.
