Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
No. 16 Michigan Sweeps Northwestern, 3-0
10/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Playing its second-consecutive match on the Big Ten Network, Northwestern traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich., but fell to No. 16 Michigan in a sweep Sunday, 30-24, 30-19, 30-22.
The loss drops Northwestern to 10-7 on the season, 1-5 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines improve to 15-3 overall, 3-3 in the conference with their win.
With the heat index outside Cliff Keen Arena in the high 80's and temperature inside not much better, Northwestern began the match in appropriately hot fashion. Five NU kills and a block by Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) and Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) contributed to an early 8-4 advantage that caused a Michigan timeout.
The Wolverines battled back to take their first lead of the match, 14-13, and the Wildcats used a timeout of their own. Trailing later by three, 17-14, Northwestern reeled off five-consecutive points on a trio of kills by Gray and two from Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) to take a 19-17 lead.
Michigan responded with a 6-1 run for a 23-20 lead, forcing NU to use its second timeout of game one. The Wolverines continued to press, taking the first game, 30-24.
Sophomore libero Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) had nine digs in game one for the 'Cats.
Michigan got out to a 9-3 run in game two, and Northwestern used a quick TO, but nothing would stem the Wolverine rush in a 30-19 second-game victory for the hosts.
Game three was much tighter at the beginning, with Michigan edging out to a 15-13 lead at the Big Ten Network media timeout. After Aldridge notched a kill out of the break, Michigan began to pull away, and Northwestern used both its timeouts while Michigan expanded its lead to seven, 25-18. The Wolverines would go on to win the game, 30-22.
With six kills in the match, senior Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) tied Shelley Brzozowski (1986-89) for eighth on Northwestern's career kills list with 1,304.
Gray led NU with 10 kills, while Nobilio had a match-best 24 digs for Northwestern, averaging eight per game. Sophomore Emma Pollert (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) contributed 11 digs.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at Purdue.
