Northwestern Falls In Big Ten Opener At Wisconsin

9/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Sept. 23, 2011

Box Score

Site: Madison, Wis. (UW Field House)
Score: Wisconsin 3, Northwestern 0
Records: NU (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten), Wisconsin (9-4, 1-0 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Sept. 25-- at Minnesota (Sports Pavilion), 1 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. -- The Northwestern volleyball team lifted the lid on the Big Ten slate on Friday night, but fell to the host Wisconsin Badgers, 3-0 (23-25, 21-25, 22-25) at the UW Field House. Stephanie Holthus led the 'Cats with 11 kills, while freshman Yewande Akanbi added nine in defeat.

The loss snapped a four-match winning streak for the Wildcats and it also marked the first time in 2011 that they fell in straight sets after starting the season 8-0 in three-set matched.

"We came up short tonight against a very good Wisconsin team," said head coach Keylor Chan after the match. "We were close all night long, but in the end we came up short. We simply have to continue to work hard every day and make ourselves better."

Northwestern found itself behind early on in the opening set when the Badgers busted out to a 12-5 advantage. A pair of kills by Kathryn Chrystal (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central), another by Akanbi and a trio of Wisconsin errors, however, quickly sliced the deficit to just one, 12-11. The two teams traded points and finally the Wildcats established their first lead of the match, 22-21, after senior Alex Ayers (Playa Del Rey, Calif./Marymount) launched back-to-back service aces. A timeout halted the momentum, unfortunately, and Wisconsin rebounded to close the set on a 4-1 run to grab the upper hand with a 25-23 win.

The second set was a tight affair. The 'Cats would lead by as many three points midway through the frame, however, untimely attacking errors and persistence from the Wisconsin attack would prove to be too much to handle. The Badgers claimed the second set, 25-21.

In the third and ultimately deciding set, the blueprint early on followed the one that preceded it. The two young squads traded points through much of the early play. Northwestern fell behind 17-14, but rallied to knot things up at 18 on the strength of back-to-back kills from Madalyn Shalter (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) and Akanbi. Wisconsin righted its ship, however, and used a few Wildcat miscues to its advantage, winning the third set, 25-21.

Libero Julie Chin (Naperville, Ill./North) led all players in the match with 15 digs, while Shalter dished out a match-best 30 assists. Redshirt freshman Katie Dutchman (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) totaled four block assists to lead the Wildcats and Holthus and Shalter notched three apiece.

Northwestern will return to action on Sunday afternoon when it travels to Minneapolis, Minn. for a tussle with the No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers at 1 p.m. at the Sports Pavilion. The Gophers also came up short in their Big Ten opener on Friday night, falling to Illinois in five sets.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!