Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Northwestern Falls to 15th-Ranked Minnesota in Three
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2008
2008 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- 15th-ranked Minnesota took control early and never let up, handing Northwestern a 3-0 defeat (15-25, 20-25, 12-25) at Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday evening. The Gophers sweep the season series against the Wildcats and remain in second-place in the Big Ten Conference with a 22-6 overall record and are 12-4 in conference action. Northwestern drops to 8-19 on the year and 2-14 in Big Ten play.
In front of a season-high 1,305 fans, NU fell behind early in the first set to the Gophers as Minnesota used an 8-1 run to push its advantage to 10 at 17-7. The Gophers then matched the `Cats point-for-point through the remainder of the opening stanza, taking the 25-15 victory. Junior Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) and sophomore Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) highlighted the opening set with four kills each.
Minnesota again took control early in the middle stanza, jumping out to an early 11-5 advantage. The Wildcats hung tough and were able to claw their way back to within three at 22-19 late, but Minnesota took three of the next four points to earn the 25-20 victory and taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. Sophomore Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) paced the NU offense with four kills against her hometown team, with Baxterbeck adding three of her own, while Johnson and sophomore Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) each registering a pair of blocks defensively.
The Wildcats jumped out in front 4-2 early in the third set for their first lead of the match, but thoughts of an upset were quickly snuffed as Minnesota put together a 20-6 run to build a commanding 22-10 lead, then cruised to the 25-12 victory and complete the three-set sweep. Brook Dieter lead all players with 10 kills for the Gophers with Kyla Roehrig adding eight of her own and Lauren Gibbemeyer tallying six blocks on the night.
Baxterbeck's eight kills led the Wildcats, as she also tallied 11 digs for Northwestern. Johnson added seven kills and three blocks for the `Cats, with Gray adding six kills as well. Senior Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) finished with two blocks on the night, including a solo block to up her career total to 69 and moving into a tie for eighth-place all-time with Julie Wittig. Freshman Madalyn Shalter (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) lead the team in assists with 17 while junior Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) added 12 digs for Northwestern.
Up next for Northwestern is the final road trip of the season as the `Cats travel to University Park, Pa., to face top-ranked and defending national champion Penn State Friday, Nov. 21. NU then heads west to Bloomington, Ind., for a showdown with Indiana in the final road match of the season Saturday, Nov. 22. Both matches get underway at 6 p.m. Central time.
