Northwestern Drops Five-Set Thriller at No. 25 Illinois

10/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Oct. 17, 2012

Box Score

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Site: Champaign, Ill. (Huff Hall)
Score: No. 25 Illinois 3, Northwestern 2
Records: NU (13-7, 2-7 Big Ten), Illinois (10-9, 4-5 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Oct. 21 -- vs. Iowa (Evanston, Ill.), 2 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Before Wednesday night, Northwestern had yet to play a five-set match this season and Illinois had played in more than any other Big Ten team, so it stood to reason that it would take the maximum amount of games to decide a classic Big Ten battle. When the dust had settled, Illinois' experience in close matches proved to be differential as they won at Huff Hall, 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-14, 17-25, 15-9).

Savannah Paffen eclipsed a career high for the second consecutive match with 15 kills, while Madalyn Shalter matched her season high with 54 assists in the loss. Stephanie Holthus matched Paffen with 15 kills and NU libero Julie Chin led all players with 17 digs.

"I'm proud of the way that we refused to back down tonight," said Northwestern head coach Keylor Chan. "After playing with great energy and focus in the beginning, we had a little bit of a let down in those areas in sets two and three. We did a fantastic job to regroup and push a great team to the fifth set.

"Anytime we go out on the court, we want to win, but in defeat we learned some valuable lessons that I hope we can carry with us in our next match against Iowa and into the second half of the Big Ten season," said Chan.

Northwestern took a quick 6-2 lead in the first set behind three kills from Holthus. Later, the Wildcats grabbed a five-point at 19-14 with the help of an error on the Illini that prompted the home team to call its second timeout of the frame.

Illinois came out of the stoppage energized enough to put together a 4-1 run that closed the gap to two points. After Chan called a timeout of his own, Katie Dutchman connected for her fifth kill of the set to stop the bleeding and give NU a 21-18 lead. Dutchman's kill sparked a 4-2 by the 'Cats to end the first set in favor of the visitors, 25-20. Yewande Akanbi sealed the set with her third kill of the evening.

As a team the Wildcats hit an eye-popping .476 in the first set with 20 kills and no attacking errors. Four players had at least three kills in the opening stanza led by Holthus with seven.

The Illini flipped the script to start the second set as they raced out to an early 6-1 lead. After a timeout, Holthus and Dutchman combined for Northwestern's fourth block of the night to stop the run and hopefully start one of their own. The 'Cats steadily chip away and eventually take the lead, 14-13, after back-to-back Illinois miscues.

After surrendering two points in a row when the score was knotted at 16-16, Northwestern would not lead again in the second set. Illinois orchestrated a 5-2 run to get ahead, 21-18, and following another timeout by the Wildcats, scored again to go up by four. The Illini claimed the second set, 25-20.

After playing mistake-free volleyball in the opening set, the Wildcats were plagued with six costly errors in the second set, while accumulating only eight kills.

After gaining an early 3-2 lead in set three, the Wildcats surrendered nine unanswered points to fall behind, 11-3. Hannah Crippen finally got Northwestern back on the scoreboard with her second kill of the match on a feed from Shalter.

Illinois would continue to control the pace of play in the third and NU would come no closer than seven points down the stretch. Illinois claimed a 25-14 victory to give it its first overall lead of the night, 2-1.

Needing to come from behind in order to force their first five-set match of the season, the Wildcats got off to a strong start by scoring the first three points of the fourth set. Northwestern later extended its cushion to seven points at 15-8 on back-to-back kills by Paffen and an error on Illinois.

As Illinois had done to them in the previous frame, the Wildcats were able to control the tempo for much of the fourth set. Northwestern committed only two errors for the second straight game as it cruised to a 25-17 win to even the match at 2-2.

The home team, no stranger to five-set matches, scored five of the first six points in the deciding game to set the tone early. The Fighting Illini were the first team to eight points as the teams switched sides with the Orange-and-Blue holding on to an 8-4 lead.

Northwestern, which had trailed by as many as six, cut its deficit to three at 12-9 on an ace by Dutchman. Ultimately, the change of scenery proved to be inconsequential as Illinois won its fourth fifth-set of the season by a score of 15-9.

The Wildcats return to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday for a matinee against the Iowa Hawkeyes at 2 p.m. It will be the only meeting between the two programs this season and the match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Check your local listings for channel information.

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