Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Block By No. 16 Buckeyes, 3-2
10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2006
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern took the floor Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena for the second-consecutive night against a ranked opponent, and blocked its way to a 3-2 win over No. 16 Ohio State.
The Wildcats had 18.0 total blocks in the game, including 30 block assists, a number which ties for the fourth-best total in school single-match history.
The win improves Northwestern to 9-8 on the season, 3-5 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats now have defeated two ranked opponents in six tries this year. With the loss, Ohio State drops to 13-5, 3-5 in the conference after going a perfect 10-0 in the nonconference portion of its schedule.
Ohio State quickly established the first lead of the game, forcing an early Northwestern timeout with a 7-1 run to take a six-point lead, 9-3.
After the quick breather, the Wildcats put together a 9-3 run to knot the game, 13-13. Junior Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) served a pair of aces during the spurt after coming into the match with a Big-Ten-leading 0.44 per game.
The teams remained close the rest of the way, combining for 14 ties and six lead changes. With the score knotted, 28-28, Courtnie Paulus (Beligum, Wis./Ozaukee) and Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) pounded home kills to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead in the match, 30-28.
Hyser finished game one a perfect 6-of-6 on the attack.
Game two stayed much tighter at the beginning, with Ohio State again forcing Northwestern to call the first timeout of the game when it extended its lead to four, 14-10. After that advantage became six, 16-10, the Wildcats reeled off five-consecutive points including an Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) ace to pull within one, 16-15, and cause a Buckeye timeout.
OSU gradually pushed back out to a four-point lead, 23-19, and again NU used a timeout. This time, the Wildcats were unable to catch the Buckeyes, falling in game two, 30-24, to even the match, 1-1.
Ohio State came out of the locker room hot, scoring the first five points of game three. NU head coach Keylor Chan used a timeout to cool the streak. Not only did the Wildcats cool the streak, they immediately came all the way back to take a 13-11 lead with a 12-3 run. A trio of Northwestern blocks helped propel the rally.
Ohio State fought back to take a five-point lead, 25-20, and Chan used his second timeout. A Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) kill and an OSU attack error gave the 'Cats two quick points, and the Buckeyes used a timeout of their own. Northwestern never was able to completely close the gap, falling in game three, 30-26.
Game four saw Northwestern take the first sizeable lead, opening up a three-point advantage, 13-10, on a Paulus kill to cause an OSU timeout. The teams played very tight for a while, exchanging ties and single-point leads until a pair of kills and a solo block by Hyser helped push Northwestern to a 25-20 lead. The Buckeyes scored two quick points to cut the lead to three, 25-22, and the Wildcats used a timeout.
Northwestern eventually closed out game four, 30-27, on a block by Cassie McLaughlin (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) and Aldridge to even the match, 2-2.
In game five, no team held more than a two-point advantage early, and Northwestern went into the side switch with the lead, 8-7, on a solo block by Aldridge. An Aldridge kill out of the switch forced an Ohio State timeout, then three points later a block by Aldridge and McLaughlin gave the Wildcats an 11-8 lead and the Buckeyes used their second timeout.
Northwestern did not let up, claiming the match with a 15-10 game five win. The Wildcats hit a whopping .625 as a team in the deciding game.
Aldridge led the Wildcats with a career-high 16 kills, besting her total of 15 against IPFW in 2004. She hit a season-best and match-high .536 (16-1-28), adding a team-season-best 10 blocks for her first-career double-double. Paulus and Anderson both contributed 15 kills, while both also had double-doubles with 13 digs and 14 digs, respectively.
Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) set a career high with 63 assists in the match.
Playing in the final two games of the match, McLaughlin hit a blistering .778 (7-0-9) for NU.
Freshman Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) had a match-best 25 digs, while Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) added a career-best 19 digs.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. CT Friday, Oct. 20, at Indiana.
