Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Come Back to Best No. 23 Buckeyes, 3-2
9/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Northwestern came back from a game one loss Friday night at No. 23 Ohio State to take a 2-1 lead in the match, then came from behind again in a thrilling game five to best the Buckeyes, 3-2 (28-30, 30-22, 30-24, 26-30, 15-13).
The win extends Northwestern's current winning streak to eight matches, upping its record to 10-2 on the year, 1-0 in the Big Ten. The victory was NU's first at Ohio State since Nov. 1, 2003. The Buckeyes fall to 6-4 on the year, 0-1 in the conference with the loss.
Ohio State scored the first four points of the match before Northwestern came back to knot game one, 8-8, on a block by Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection). With the score tied again, 15-15, following two-straight Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) aces, Ohio State went on a 3-0 spurt to cause a Northwestern timeout.
With the Wildcats trailing, 21-18, a 6-0 NU run featuring two Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) aces and a pair of blocks gave Northwestern its first lead of the game, 24-21, and forced an Ohio State timeout along the way. The Buckeyes surged back to take a one-point advantage, 28-27, and NU head coach Keylor Chan used his second timeout of the game.
Freshman Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) got a kill out of the break, but Ohio State scored the next two points to take a 30-28 game one win. Anderson had six kills in game one, moving into Northwestern's all-time top-10 in kills when her fourth of the game gave her 1,247 for her career.
Game two was tight throughout the early going until the Buckeyes edged themselves out to a four-point lead, 14-10, and Chan used a timeout. Northwestern clawed its way back into the lead, 19-18, to this time force an OSU timeout. Senior Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) had two kills and two aces between the breaks.
The run continued for NU, with the 'Cats taking a 22-18 lead after two OSU hitting errors and another Paulus kill, and the Buckeyes burned their second TO. Northwestern cruised into the finish line from there, getting aces from Anderson and Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) to aid in a 30-22 game two win.
Paulus had six kills in game two for NU.
The Wildcats roared out of the gates in game three, forcing an early Buckeye timeout after kills by Glab and Gray gave Northwestern a six-point edge, 11-5. The Wildcats continued to rock 'n roll in game three, pushing their lead to double-digits, 19-8, on a Hyser kill.
Northwestern held onto its cushion and took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 30-24 game three victory.
Game four saw the 'Cats climb to a 7-4 lead early thanks in part to two kills and two blocks by Hyser. Anderson had a pair of terminations leading to the first Ohio State timeout of the frame. This time, Ohio State was able to mount a comeback, taking its own lead, 12-10, and causing Chan to use a timeout.
Ohio State's lead would become four, 21-17, before kills from Paulus, Hyser and Anderson helped NU back into a tie, 22-22. Ohio State edged back into a two-point cushion, 27-25, and Chan called his second timeout, but it did not stem the tied in a 30-26 game four win for OSU.
Very similar to game one, Ohio State grabbed the first four points of game five, eventually holding a 7-2 lead. NU cut it to a three-point deficit, 8-5, going into the side switch. The Wildcats kept chipping away, forcing a Buckeye's timeout after a hitting error brought the deficit to one, 12-11. NU tied the match on the next point, tied it again at 13-13, then a block by Paulus and Moffett gave Northwestern the first match point, 14-13.
On match point, Nobilio dug a Buckeye attack and Gray stuffed home a kill to give NU a 15-13 game five win, and a 3-2 match victory.
Anderson finished with an NU-best 19 kills to give her 1,262 in her career, one shy of ninth on the Wildcats' career list. She had a double-double with 13 digs as well. Paulus finished with 18 kills, Gray had 17 and Hyser contributed 11.
Glab racked up a career-best 61 assists, while Nobilio reached 20 digs for the fifth-straight match, earning 23 Friday night. She also had a career-best six assists. Hyser and Paulus both had a team-high six blocks.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 22, at No. 3 Penn State.
