Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Northwestern Drops Tough Four-Set Heartbreaker at Wisconsin
10/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2009
Box Score
Northwestern at Wisconsin Box Score 
2009 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics
MADISON, Wis. -- Four different Wildcats notched double-digit kill totals and five different 'Cats reached double-digits in digs, but it wasn't enough as Northwestern drops another very competitive match, falling 19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 20-25 decision to Wisconsin. The Wildcats wrap up the first half of the Big Ten schedule sitting at 11-11 overall and 2-8 in conference play.
Junior Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) and sophomore Alexandra Ayers (Playa del Rey, Calif./Marymount) each had 16 kills on the night to lead NU, with Moffett adding four kills and Ayers recording the first double-double of her collegiate career by recording 14 digs.
Senior Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) and junior Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) recorded 11 kills on the night as Baxterbeck tallied 15 digs to join the double-double club and Johnson blocked four Badger attacks.
Junior Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) dished out a season-high 55 assists at Wisconsin Field House, complimented by 13 digs, three kills and three blocks. Senior Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg), who on Friday became the fifth player in Big Ten history to record 2,000 career digs, had 17 on the night to move into fourth-place all-time among the conference leaders with 2,025. Freshman Julie Chin (Naperville, Ill./North) tied a career-best with 10 digs on the night.
Wisconsin (10-9, 5-5 Big Ten) started off strong in front of nearly 3,500 at Wisconsin Field House, building an early 11-5 lead on Northwestern. The Badgers would wire-to-wire, extending their cushion to as many as seven at 16-9 before closing out the Wildcats 25-19.
Set two was competitive from the opening serve as both teams exchanged points early on. Tied at 10, Northwestern would mount a 7-2 run to build a five-point cushion. Wisconsin tried to rally, pulling to within two at 19-17, but the `Cats outscored the Badgers 6-2 down the stretch to take the set 25-19 and knot the match at one.
Northwestern and Wisconsin dueled back and forth in set three, as the teams combined for six ties and four lead changes. It looked as if the Wildcats were going to be able to close out the Badgers, leading 22-19 of a Nobilo service ace. But Wisconsin would take six of the next seven points to slip past NU 25-23 and take a 2-1 lead.
Set four played out in similar fashion to the previous three as both teams battled point for point throughout with 10 ties and four lead changes. Tied at 15, it was the Badgers who began to pull away, building a five-point lead at 22-17, then holding off the final Northwestern rally to clinch the match with the 25-20 victory.
Wisconsin's Brittany Dolgner finished with a match-high 17 kills while Elle Ohlander had seven blocks on the night as the Badgers out-blocked the Wildcats by a 14-9 margin.
Northwestern now begins the second half of the Big Ten season the same way it wrapped up the first half - on the road. The Wildcats head south to West Lafayette, Ind., to face Purdue at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 30. NU then spends Halloween night in Bloomington, Ind., taking on Indiana at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 31.
