Northwestern University Athletics
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Utah
Northwestern Falls To Utah in Five-Set Heartbreaker
9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2010
Utah 3, Northwestern 2
2010 Northwestern Challenge
Site: Welsh-Ryan Arena • Evanston, Ill.
Records: Northwestern (4-1), Utah (4-2)
Up Next: vs. No. 17 Tennessee • Friday, Sept. 10 • 9 a.m.
Box Score
Northwestern vs. Utah Box Score 
2010 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern took the first and third sets against Utah Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but the Utes rallied to take the final two sets and handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 12-15 in the finale of the 2010 Northwestern Challenge. Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) continued the extraordinary start to her senior career, knocking down a season-high 19 kills with a .485 hitting percentage and eight blocks.
"I'm disappointed, but at the same time I'm proud of how the girls fought tonight," said head coach Keylor Chan. "There were times where we could have thrown in the towel, but we fought hard every single point, and as a coach, that's what you ask of them. Utah played unbelievable tonight and deserved this victory. We didn't get the key points when we needed to, and that was the difference. But all in all, I am proud of how the girls played the entire weekend."
Moffett racked up 42 kills over the weekend's three sets, hitting .392 while tallying 26 blocks and was named to the Northwestern Challenge All-Tournament team. Moffett was joined by Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) who posted a season-best 16 kills on the night and finished with 30 kills during the tournament.
Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) came up big for the Wildcats as well, finishing with a season-best 15 kills against the Utes with two blocks and a pair of service aces. Stephanie Holthus (Burlington, Ill./Central) added nine kills, 10 digs and a pair of blocks for Northwestern as well.
Each set proved to be incredibly competitive from the opening serve as both teams challenged for every point. A late run in the opening set gave the Wildcats a 25-19 victory, followed by a valiant comeback in set two which saw Northwestern fight off four set-points, only to fall 23-25.
Sets three and four were nearly identical to the opening two, as the Wildcats pulled away late in set three to earn the 25-19 victory, then fought back from three set-points before falling to Utah by an identical 23-25 score as in set two.
The Utes jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the decisive fifth set and never relinquished the lead down the stretch. The Wildcats were able to tie the set twice, once at seven and again at nine, but Utah got the key points when it mattered to pull away and earn the victory.
Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) posted a season-best 57 assists and four kills on the night while defensively five different Wildcats recorded double-digit kill totals, led by Julie Chin's (Naperville, Ill./North) 13 and 12 from Alex Ayers (Playa del Rey, Calif./Marymount).
Northwestern now prepares for its first true road trip of the season, traveling to Athens, Ohio, this weekend for the Baymont Inn Suites Invitational. The Wildcats play a pair of matches Friday, Sept. 10, opening up with 17th-ranked Tennessee at 9 a.m. before meeting Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. Northwestern then faces host Ohio at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11.
MATCH NOTES
• Northwestern and Utah both finished the Northwestern Challenge with 2-1 records, but the Utes were crowned the tournament champions based on beating the Wildcats head-to-head.
• Moffett was named to her sixth-straight all-tournament team.
• Utah's Karolina Bartkowiak was named the Northwestern Challenge MVP. Utah's Morgan Odale and Keisha Fisher, Mississippi's Morgan Springer and Morehead State's Kirstie Branger were also named to the All-Tournament team.
• Northwestern had seven service aces on the night, highlighted by a pair from both Johnson and Ayers.
• This was the first-ever meeting between Northwestern and Utah.
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