Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Invade Iowa Saturday For Big Ten Clash
10/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 21, 2011
Northwestern (10-10, 1-8 Big Ten) at Iowa (11-11, 1-8 Big Ten)
Saturday, Oct. 22
Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,000)
Iowa City, Iowa • 7 p.m.
Streaming Video: Wildcats All-Access
Gametracker: NUsports.com
Northwestern Match Notes (PDF)
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In search of its first Big Ten victory away from home this season, Northwestern's volleyball team will head west this weekend for an important showdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday at 7 p.m. inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
While the Wildcats have dropped five straight Big Ten matches, each has been an extremely tight and competitive affair. Four of those narrow defeats came against teams ranked in the AVCA coaches poll top-25 and two of those, at No. 9 Penn State and against No. 20 Michigan, were played out in the maximum five sets.
This weekend's opponent has also fallen short in its last four matches including a loss earlier this week at No. 4 Nebraska. The last Big Ten triumph for both Iowa and Northwestern has come against a common opponent, the Indiana Hoosiers. The 'Cats swept IU on Oct. 1 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, while the Hawkeyes outlasted the cream and crimson-clad squad in five sets at home on Oct. 7.
Northwestern's Katie Dutchman (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) has been a consistent contributor at the net for her team. Dutchman is the reigning Co-Defensive Player and Co-Freshman of the Week in the Big Ten. The Californian tallied 18 total blocks in two matches last weekend, including a career-high 11 against the Wolverines. In that match, Dutchman also put down 10 kills to mark the first double-double of her young career. She followed that effort up by recording a match-high eight blocks against No. 1 Illinois on Wednesday evening.
The 'Cats have won three straight contests against the Hawkeyes and 15 of the last 19 overall. Northwestern leads Iowa in the all-time series, 36-26 with one tie which came on Sept. 28, 1979 (1-1).
For more notes and information about the match, please click on the Match Notes PDF above. The match will be streamed live via Wildcats All-Access. The link to view the stream can also be found near the top of the page.
Following Saturday's contest the Wildcats will return to Welsh-Ryan Arena next weekend to begin the second-half of the Big Ten schedule to host No. 14 Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 28 and Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 29. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.
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