Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Hosts UW-Green Bay in Saturday Season Opener
8/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2005
NU Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena the lights will shine, the music will blast and the 2005 season will officially get underway when Northwestern welcomes the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to Evanston for a 7 p.m. contest.
This year's August 27th opener marks the earliest a Northwestern volleyball team has ever played its first match of the year.
After not opening at home since 1996, this year marks the second-consecutive season NU will raise the curtain at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats began last year by winning their first two matches at the make-shift NU Labor Day Invite--held after Hurricane Frances canceled the Florida Invitational Tournament where Northwestern was scheduled to begin last year.
This is the third meeting between the Wildcats and UW-Green Bay, with the Wildcats holding a 2-0 advantage in the series. The last meeting came all the way back in 1994 (a 3-0 NU win), while the first meeting came before any of the current Wildcats were born (a 2-1 NU win on Oct. 12, 1978).
The Wildcats enter this season determined to return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. NU returns a bevy of experienced players, including a group of six sophomores that saw significant action last year as freshmen.
Sophomore Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) led the `Cats with 299 kills in her freshman season, while sophomore Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) rated second with 281. Of NU's top-five attackers from last year, four were freshmen. Sophomore Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) led NU defensively with 98 blocks.
While the young'uns put up solid numbers, it is seniority leading Northwestern in the backcourt. Seniors Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) and Lizzie Carlson (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) provide leadership from the libero and defensive specialist positions, respectively. Gardner set NU's single-season digs record with 460 last year.
UW-Green Bay finished 2004 with a 10-19 record, but advanced deep into the Horizon League tournament with three straight wins at the end of the year before falling to eventual champ Loyola.
At middle-blocker, senior Jill Smits returns as a first-team All-Horizon League selection. Senior Jackie Rosen led the Phoenix and finished sixth in the conference with 379 kills a season ago, while junior Sarah Rauen totaled 442 digs wearing the libero jersey.
