Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Wildcats Take Down Hoosiers in Five-Set Halloween Thriller
10/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 31, 2009
Box Score
Northwestern at Indiana Box Score 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Apparently Northwestern's moniker as the "Cardiac 'Cats" is now extending to the volleyball court, as the Wildcats hold off seven Indiana match points in a wild fifth set, earning a thrilling 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 17-25, 24-22 Halloween night victory over the Hoosiers at University Gym. It was Northwestern's second-consecutive five-set road victory as the Wildcats improve to 13-11 on the year and 4-8 in Big Ten play.
Junior Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) once again anchored the Wildcats up front, recording match-highs in both kills (23) and blocks (6) with junior Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) adding 17 kills on a .500 hitting percentage and three blocks. Redshirt freshman Kathryn Chrystal (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) had nine kills and just one error on 13 attempts for a .615 hitting percentage as the trio paced a potent Northwestern attack which hit .305 on the evening.
Junior Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) dished out a career-best 66 assists on the night with nine digs and a pair of kills, as senior Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) and sophomore Alexandra Ayers (Playa del Rey, Calif./Marymount) each added seven kills.
Defensively, Chrystal had five blocks to compliment the six from Moffett. Four different Wildcats recorded double-digit dig totals, led by 23 from senior Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg). Baxterbeck added 18 while Ayers chipped in with 13 and freshman Julie Chin (Naperville, Ill./North) had 11.
In what will go down as one of the classic matches in the Northwestern - Indiana series, both teams battled back and forth in the decisive fifth set. The Wildcats led 15-14 with a chance to close out the match, but the Hoosiers rallied for a pair of points and had match point of their own at 16-15. It was the first of seven different match point opportunities for Indiana that Northwestern was able to fend off, the last of which came at 22-21. But three straight points for the Wildcats gave NU the victory, capped by a block from Chrystal and Johnson for match point.
Set one set the tone for what would prove to be a competitive evening as neither Northwestern or Indiana (14-13, 3-9 Big Ten) could take control. After 12 ties and five lead changes, the Hoosiers held off the Wildcats long enough to take a 25-23 decision.
The second set, however, would belong to Northwestern, as the Wildcats pounced to an early 13-8 lead and never looked back. Northwestern would push its advantage to nine at 22-13 before cruising to the 25-18 victory, sending the match into the intermission tied at one.
NU carried its second-set momentum into the third, as after falling behind 8-5 early, the 'Cats would use an 11-2 run to break the set open at 16-10. Indiana tried to climb back into the set, but Northwestern held off every attempt en route to the 25-17 decision and a 2-1 lead in the match.
But just like Purdue a night earlier, Indiana refused to go down without a fight on its home court. The Hoosiers slowly extended its lead to eight at 20-12 and seemed to be in control of the fourth set. Northwestern staged a late rally cutting the deficit to four at 21-17, but Indiana held off NU to take the set 25-17 and force the thrilling decisive set.
The victory gives Northwestern the season sweep over Indiana after taking another five-set decision at Welsh-Ryan Arena back on Oct. 11. The Wildcats also notch their first win in Bloomington since the 2006 season.
Kelsey Hall led the Hoosiers with 18 kills with Ashley Benson adding 15 and Jordan Haverly notching 13. Taylor Wittmer had a big night for Indiana, recording seven kills and a team-high five blocks in defeat.
After four-straight road matches, the Wildcats finally get to return home for a pair of matches this weekend. Northwestern takes on Michigan State Friday, Nov. 6 before a showdown with nationally-ranked Michigan Saturday, Nov. 7. Both matches get underway at 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena, with the match against the Wolverines airing nationally on the Big Ten Network.
