Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Georgia Tech (Arizona Tournament)
Wildcats Wreck No. 20 Georgia Tech, 3-0
9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2005
Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Through three heart-stopping games Friday afternoon at the Four Points University Plaza Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz., Northwestern always had the answer against its first ranked opponent of the year, derailing the Ramblin' Wreck from No. 20 Georgia Tech in a sweep, 34-32, 30-28, 30-23.
The Wildcats improve to 3-0 overall, 2-0 in the tournament. This is NU's best start since it won its first trio of matches in 2002; this is the second 3-0 start for the Wildcats under head coach Keylor Chan. Georgia Tech falls to 0-1 following its first match of the year.
The win gives Northwestern 499 victories in the history of the program.
Junior transfer Cassie McLaughlin (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) led Northwestern offensively with a .409 attack percentage on 12-of-22 hitting with three errors. Junior Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) totalled a team-best 13 kills in the match.
Senior libero Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) put up a match-high 14 digs for NU. Northwestern outblocked the Yellow Jackets 9-8, with five different Wildcats recording block solos.
"We are thrilled with our play today," NU head coach Keylor Chan said. "We played as a team. Our volleyball was not always the greatest, but they stuck together and did what was necessary to win, and winning is always fun."
The match did not start out fantastically for Northwestern. Georgia Tech forced Chan to use both his timeouts early on in game one after putting NU in 8-2 and 18-10 holes. The 'Cats battled back to make the score 25-19 before starting a run in earnest.
A Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) ace cut the Tech lead to 27-25 and forced GT to use a timeout. NU reeled off the next two points coming out of the break, with McLaughlin killing a ball to knot the score, 27-27.
Two Purcell kills gave the Wildcats their first game point, but Georgia Tech staved it off. Sophomore Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) hit home a roundhouse kill to again give NU a game point, but again the Yellow Jackets survived.
Georgia Tech then earned a game point of its own at 31-30, but a hitting error tied the score. An Anderson kill put NU on the brink for the third time, but for the third time it was thwarted. Two straight hitting errors from Georgia Tech, however, finally ended the first game in favor of the Wildcats, 34-32.
NU forced Tech into 13 hitting errors in that first game.
Game two was back-and-forth from the start, with seven ties before a three-point NU spurt put the Wildcats up 12-9 on a block by Anderson and sophomore Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire).
The Wildcats gradually extended that advantage to 27-20 on an Anderson solo block, but Georgia Tech made a seven point run to knot the score, 27-27.
NU clawed to a 29-28 lead before Purcell pounded home the Wildcats' 30th point for a 2-0 lead in the match.
NU ran out to a 3-0 lead in game three on kills by Purcell, Aldridge and Anderson before pushing its lead to 11-6. Georgia Tech again made a run, eventually taking a 19-17 lead.
With junior Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) serving, the 'Cats rolled off five straight points to take a 22-20 lead and force a Georgia Tech timeout. Northwestern's final run would be the only one of the match for both teams which was not answered. NU won the third game going away, 30-23, with a 13-4 run.
Northwestern concludes the Four Points University Plaza Wildcat Classic against host and No. 17-ranked Arizona at 9 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 3.
