Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Northwestern Falls in Three at Top-Ranked Penn State
11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
2008 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics 
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Defending national champion Penn State hadn't lost a set all season long heading into its match with Northwestern Friday evening, and that streak remained intact as the Nittany Lions earn a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-18, 25-11) over the Wildcats at Rec Hall. PSU improves to 29-0 on the year and 17-0 in Big Ten play, with NU dropping to 8-20 overall and 2-15 in conference action.
In front of nearly 5,800 fans, Penn State kept up business as usual in the first set, using a 9-2 run to push its advantage to 13-6 and never looked back. The Nittany Lions recorded five service aces in the opening stanza and took the early 1-0 lead with a 25-15 victory. The sophomore duo of Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) and Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) lead the way with three kills apice for the `Cats with sophomore Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) dishing out seven assists.
The Nittany Lions continued that momentum, pouncing out to an early 9-2 advantage on Northwestern, but the Wildcats were able to claw their way back to within four at 18-14. A 7-4 run by Penn State to close out the set gave the Nittany Lions the 25-18 victory and a commanding two games to none advantage. Gray again paced the Wildcat offensive charge with three kills while junior Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) added a pair of kills and blocks as well.
Looking to do what they had done all season long, the Nittany Lions took control early of the final set, scoring 15 of the first 17 points and cruising to the 25-11 victory to clinch their sixth-straight Big Ten Conference title. Nicole Fawcett had 11 kills with Megan Hodge adding 10 to lead Penn State.
Junior Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) recorded just six digs on the night, but it was enough to become just the second player in Northwestern history to eclipse the 1,600 digs mark, as she now has tallied 1,603 for her career. Nobilio is now just 55 shy of Christie Gardner's career mark of 1,658, and with three matches left remains on pace to be the Wildcats' all-time dig leader by year's end.
Gray lead the way with eight kills for Northwestern, with Moffett adding four and Baxterbeck recording three kills and blocks. Senior Chelsy Hyser (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) joined Baxterbeck with three blocks as well, moving her into sole possession of fifth-place on the all-time block assist list with 346 in her Wildcat career. Glab finished with 18 assists, upping her career total to 2,193 - two helpers shy of tying Heather Fredin for seventh-place all-time.
Northwestern now travels to Bloomington, Ind., for the final road match of the 2008 season, facing Indiana at 6 p.m. The Hoosiers took the last meeting between the two, rallying to take a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats in Evanston back on Oct. 24.
