Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
UNLV
Northwestern Comeback Falls Short to UNLV, 3-1
9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Northwestern fell behind two games to none against UNLV Saturday morning at the Loyola Marymount Four Points Sheraton LAX Classic before fighting back to win game three and hold a lead in game four, but eventually fell to the Rebels, 3-1 (30-28, 30-24, 25-30, 30-27).
With the loss, Northwestern falls to 2-2 on the season, 0-2 in the tournament. UNLV improves to 4-1 on the year, 2-0 in the event with its victory.
Neither team held more than a two-point lead for the majority of the first game. UNLV called a timeout when NU held a 9-7 advantage, then the Wildcats used a TO when the Rebels edged out to a 19-17 lead later in the game.
Northwestern knotted the score again, 23-23, after kills from Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) and Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire). In a game featuring 15 ties and only two leads of three points, UNLV scored the final two points on NU attack errors to win, 30-28.
Senior Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) had eight kills in the first game for the 'Cats.
Northwestern took an 11-7 lead in game two after a 3-0 spurt capped by an Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) ace and a Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) kill, but UNLV went on a 7-1 run to take a 14-12 advantage. The Wildcats clawed back to take a 15-14 lead helped in part by an Anderson kill, but again UNLV shot back in front, forcing a Northwestern timeout when the Rebels' lead reached four, 23-19.
The Wildcats could not arrest their slide in the game, falling 30-24.
Game three was much like the first, with neither team holding more than a three-point lead until a 3-0 spurt by Northwestern consisting of a Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) kill and a pair of Anderson aces gave the Wildcats a 23-19 lead and forced a Rebels' timeout.
Kills by Gray and Glab book-ended a block from Glab and Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) to help the Wildcats out to a six-point lead, 27-21, before NU held on to win the game, 30-25.
Trailing, 8-5, in game four, Northwestern ripped off a 7-1 run to take a 12-9 lead and cause a UNLV TO. Anderson contributed three kills to the run. Hyser later notched back-to-back terminations of overpasses, pushing the NU lead to five, 15-10, and the Rebels quickly burned their second timeout of the game. Hyser would get another kill and a block with Glab before UNLV could break the run.
UNLV gradually worked its way back into the game, closing to within two, 26-24, to cause a Keylor Chan timeout. The Rebels' run continued after the break, and Chan used his second timeout with NU trailing by one, 27-26. Northwestern could not recover, dropping game four, 30-27, and the match, 3-1.
Anderson led Northwestern with a match-best 20 kills, giving her 1,153 for her career and moving her into 12th on the Wildcats' career list. Paulus added 15 kills and Gray recorded 13 for NU. Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) had a match-best 21 digs for the 'Cats, while Glab contributed 38 assists in three games played and Jurivich had 14 in the first game.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. CT tonight against UC Santa Barbara in the Wildcats' final game of the LMU Four Points Sheraton LAX Classic.
