Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Hawai'i (Hawaii Tournament)
No. 9 Hawaii Survives Northwestern, 3-1
9/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 9, 2006
Box Score
HONOLULU -- Northwestern controlled every game Friday night at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge, sometimes even dominating its host No. 9 Hawaii, but the Wildcats had trouble closing the door on the Wahine and their 6,430 fans in a four-game loss, 29-31, 30-27, 32-30, 32-30.
The loss drops Northwestern to 2-3 on the season, 0-2 in the tournament. Hawaii improves to 5-2 overall, 2-0 in the event with the win.
In a match where every run was answered and every point was huge, Northwestern earned the respect of the rowdy Hawaiian crowd, which roared its approval at every Wahine point.
Northwestern took the lead into the media timeout of game one, 15-14, helped by a 5-0 run early on. During the run, juniors Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) and Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) combined on a block to even the score, 7-7, before kills by senior Julie Purcell (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) and Aldridge gave NU a two-point lead, 9-7.
The game stayed within two points for much of the way, with the Wildcats always holding the advantage. When an Aldridge kill made the score 24-22, Hawaii used a timeout. Junior Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) came right out and aced the Rainbow Wahine for a three-point lead before the hosts stormed back to knot the score, 26-26.
After NU head coach Keylor Chan (adorned in several fresh purple leis) used a timeout, Paulus drilled home a kill before combining on a block with sophomore Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) to again push the 'Cats' cushion to two, 28-26.
Again Hawaii tied the score, 29-29, but a Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) kill and a block from Hyser and Jurivich gave Northwestern game one, 31-29. The Wildcats hit a blistering .372 as a team in the opening game of the match.
Game two saw the 'Cats get down by two early, 9-7, but a quick 3-0 spurt capped by a thunderous Hyser solo block put NU back on top, 10-9, and caused UH to call timeout. Later in the game, senior Lauren Greenwood (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) served up an ace to cap a 4-0 run to put the Wildcats up four, 19-15. The Wahine immediately responded on their home court with a 4-0 push of their own to knot the score, 19-19.
After a Chan timeout, Aldridge absolutely demolished an overpass to stop the run and put Northwestern back on top, 20-19. The two teams exchanged points back and forth again until the Wahine were able to pull away at the end to even the match, 1-1, with a 30-27 game two victory.
The teams played even again to start the third, but a 5-0 Northwestern run heading into the media timeout gave the Wildcats a 15-11 lead. Hyser was in on three blocks during the run, reaching eight total blocks for the match to tie her career single-match high set Nov. 19, 2005, at Michigan.
A pair of UH attack errors and an Aldridge kill gave NU its largest cushion of the match at five, 18-13, and forced Hawaii to call timeout. The Wahine ran back to within two, 18-16, but the Wildcats again extended their lead out to six, 23-17, on a block by Hyser and Paulus. The block gave Hyser a career-high nine blocks in the match.
As top-10 ranked teams will do, Hawaii made a run. With Northwestern leading by five, 27-22, UH came all the way back to knot the match, 27-27. Jurivich was able to earn a Northwestern game point, 29-28, with a kill, but Hawaii answered with a kill of its own before NU shook off a pair of UH game points itself when freshman libero Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) alertly let a pair of serves sail long out of bounds. Hawaii still eventually won the game, 32-20, and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
Neither team led by more than three until late in game four, when Hawaii took a 20-17 lead on a freak ace that hit the top of the net and rolled over for a Wahine point. The Wildcats responded with two immediate points including an amped-up Anderson kill to pull back within one, 20-19, and force a Hawaii timeout. Northwestern eventually would tie, 23-23.
After ties at 24, 25 and 26, NU pulled ahead with an Aldridge kill and a solo block by Anderson to take a 28-26 lead and cause Hawaii's second timeout of the game.
Northwestern then earned two game points, 29-27, but Hawaii fought back to knot the score, 29-29, before again escaping the Wildcats, 32-20, to receive the win in the match, 3-1.
Nobilio finished the match with a match-high and career-best 34 digs, tying Jill Wagner's performance on Oct. 24, 1986, against Michigan for the third-best single-match total in school history. Hyser ended up with a career-high nine blocks while Jurivich had a career-best 47 assists.
Anderson led the NU attack with 17 kills, recording a double-double with her 12 digs. Paulus also double-doubled with 12 kills and 10 digs, while Jurivich had 14 digs to go along with her 47 assists. Purcell and Aldridge rounded out a quartet of 'Cats with double-digit kills, notching 13 and 11, respectively.
Northwestern returns to action at 9:30 p.m. CT Saturday against Fairfield in its final match at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge.
