Northwestern University Athletics
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Iowa
Chelsy Hyser Leads Northwestern Past Iowa, 3-1
11/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2007
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Junior Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) turned Iowa City into her own personal playground Friday night, earning a career-best 24 kills and hitting a blistering .636 (24-3-33) to help push Northwestern to a 3-1 win over Iowa, 19-30, 30-21, 30-24, 30-27.
The win improves Northwestern to 17-11 overall, 8-9 in the Big Ten. Iowa falls to 9-19, 1-16 with its loss.
Hyser's career-best hitting percentage is .667 (10-0-15), set against Towson on Sept. 8 of this year. She was hitting well into the .700's Friday night until an attack error two points from the end of the match. She added an ace, a solo block and five block assists to finish with 28.5 points, matching teammate Courtnie Paulus' (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) 28.5-point effort on Nov. 10 against Ohio State for NU's best total of the season.
Iowa answered an early 6-0 Northwestern run in game one with an 11-3 run of its own to take a 15-11 lead and force a Wildcats' timeout. The Hawkeyes continued to battle, extending that lead out to five, 23-18, to cause the 'Cats' second timeout of the game, but nothing could arrest NU's slide in a 30-19 game one loss.
A quick 3-0 spurt comprised of a Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) kill, a Hyser kill and an Iowa attack error gave Northwestern an 11-8 lead in game two. The Hawkeyes immediately came back to tie, 12-12, and teams played sideout volleyball for a while.
A 6-1 NU run later in the game propelled by a pair of kills from Anderson and Hyser gave the Wildcats a 25-19 lead, forcing a Hawkeye timeout. Kills from Hyser, Paulus and a block by Hyser and Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) rounded out a 30-21 game-two victory for Northwestern.
Hyser was perfect on the attack in the second game, terminating all seven of her swings for a 1.000 hitting percentage.
A 3-0 Iowa run midway through game three gave the Hawkeyes a 16-14 lead to force a Wildcats' timeout. Out of the break, consecutive kills by Hyser, Anderson, Paulus and Glab grabbed the lead back for NU, 18-16. The Wildcats' onslaught continued from there, resulting in a 30-24 game three victory.
In game four, a 4-1 Iowa run midway through the game gave the home team a 16-13 lead to cause an NU timeout. Northwestern came roaring back from an eventual 20-15 deficit with a 9-3 run, forcing an Iowa timeout when NU's lead hit two, 25-23.
The Hawkeyes scored the next two points to knot the score at 25, then a Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) kill and a solo block by Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) gave the 'Cats a 27-25 edge. NU kept that cushion the rest of the way to win game four, 30-27, and the match, 3-1.
Paulus had 14 kills and 16 digs for NU, leaving her 14 digs shy of 1,000 for her career. Anderson finished with 10 kills and 16 digs for her eighth-consecutive double-double, while Glab also had a double-double with 54 assists and 13 digs.
Sophomore Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) returned from an injury that kept her out of last weekend's matches to make a team-best 18 digs. Sophomore Emma Pollert (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) had 15 digs for the 'Cats.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 17, at Minnesota.
