Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Northwestern Comeback Stuns No. 15 Purdue, 3-2
11/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In one of the most exciting matches Welsh-Ryan Arena has seen in some time, Northwestern shook off a 2-0 deficit Friday night against No. 15 Purdue to knock off the Boilermakers, 3-2 (28-30, 20-30, 30-26, 30-27, 15-12).
The match marks the first time the Wildcats have come back from a 2-0 hole to win a match since Nov. 5, 1993, against Michigan State.
The loss snapped a nine-match winning streak for Purdue (20-4, 9-4 Big Ten). Northwestern improves to 13-10, 4-9 with the victory.
Senior Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) was honored before the match for reaching first place on the 'Cats' career digs list, then promptly went out and shattered the school's single-match mark with 36 Friday night. Jill Wagner previously held the record with a 34-dig performance against Michigan State on Oct. 24, 1986.
Sophomore Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) matched her season-best with 19 kills to lead a quintet of Wildcats in double-figures. Freshman Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) again topped her career-best total with 13, while sophomore Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) also had 13.
Sophomore Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) recorded her third-consecutive double-double with 12 kills and a season-best 16 digs. Junior Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) added 11 kills for the Wildcats.
Junior Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) put together a double-double of her own with 38 assists and a career-high 17 digs. The match marks the first time this season multiple Wildcats have double-doubled.
Not to be outdone, senior Lizzie Carlson (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) had a season-best 12 digs for the 'Cats.
Northwestern began the match by dropping a tight, 30-28 first game before Purdue cruised to a 30-20 win the second.
The Wildcats came out in game three and took an early 5-2 lead, an advantage it protected against every Boilermaker burst. Northwestern never led by more than four, but it also never allowed Purdue to tie the score.
Leading 21-17, the Wildcats watched Purdue whittle the lead to one with a 3-0 run before Anderson got a kill to a spark an NU 3-0 run. Again the Boilers cut the lead to one, 27-26, but kills by Aldridge, Hyser and Anderson closed out a 30-26 game three win for Northwestern.
Game four saw the Wildcats blast out to an 18-10 lead thanks to an 8-2 run. Purdue came all the way back to chop the Wildcats' lead to two, 28-26, but Paulus made a pair of gracefully violent kills at the center of the net to pound home a 30-27 win and knot the match, 2-2.
With Welsh-Ryan rocking, Northwestern rode its momentum to a 3-0 lead to open game five and force a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers eventually tied the game, 7-7, before taking its final lead of the match, 10-9.
A service error tied the game, 10-10. On the next point, Northwestern scrambled with a sprawling Gardner dig to get the ball over the net before Paulus blocked Purdue's leading attacker, Danita Merlau, for an 11-10 lead.
With a 13-11 lead, the Wildcats weathered an extended volley in which Gardner dug three balls to break the single-match record before forcing a Purdue attack error to earn three match points.
Purdue got one kill before Aldridge hit home a Greenwood set to win the game 15-12, the match 3-2, and send the Arena into a frenzy.
The win is Northwestern's second over a ranked opponent this season. The Wildcats previously beat then-No. 20 Georgia Tech, 3-0, on Sept. 2.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. tomorrow night, Saturday, Nov. 5, when it hosts Illinois on Alumni Night. Fans with ticket stubs to NU's football game can enter the match for free.
