Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Seeks to Sink No. 13 Nebraska Wednesday
10/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
| (rv) Northwestern (13-4, 3-3 B1G) at No. 13 Nebraska (10-5, 4-2 B1G) |
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| Date | Time | October 15 | 7:00 p.m. CT |
| Location | Bob Devaney Sports Center | Lincoln, Neb. |
| Live Stats | Huskers.com |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Listen Live | Huskers.com |
| Social Media | @NUVball  | Northwestern Volleyball  | @nu_volleyball  |
| Notes (PDF) | Northwestern | Nebraska |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After dropping back-to-back contests for the first time all season last week, Northwestern will look to get back to its winning ways with a trip to Lincoln, Neb. to take on the 13th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
Digging Up The Ladder
Libero Caroline Niedospial has been a strong anchor for Northwestern's back row this season. The Evergreen Park, Ill., native leads all players in Big Ten matches only with 5.19 digs per set, and ranks second in all matches with 4.75. Niedospial owns three of the top five dig performances in three-set matches in program history, including two this year. She collected 25 digs on Oct. 5 against No. 18 Minnesota, and the same amount on Sept. 22, 2013 against IUPUI. Niedospial's 26 digs against Virginia on Sept. 13 helped her to claim her first-ever Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Award. That was the second-best output at Northwestern in a three-set match behind Kate Nobilio's 31 vs. Towson on Sept. 8, 2007. With a match-high 15 digs at No. 5 Penn State on Oct. 8, Niedospial became the 16th Wildcat in program history to record at least 1,000 career digs. With 16 more against Ohio State on Oct. 11, she passed both Liz Renius and Courtnie Paulus to take over sole possession of 14th place on the list with 1,026.
Poll Presence
After receiving votes in five consecutive editions, Northwestern finally cracked the top 25 in the weekly AVCA coaches poll on Monday, Oct. 6. The Wildcats checked in at No. 24 last week following a takedown of 18th-ranked Minnesota at home on Sunday, Oct. 5. Until receiving the ranking, the `Cats had not appeared in the top 25 since Nov. 15, 2010 when they were recognized for the eighth consecutive week. Northwestern was slotted at 22 in the first RPI of the season that was released the same day. Following back-to-back road losses to two conference opponents, Northwestern dropped from the poll, but remained just outside by receiving the most votes. NU's new RPI number this week is 30.
B1G Start
Northwestern won three of its first four Big Ten matches this season for the first time since the 2010 campaign. This season marked the third time in 15 years under head Keylor Chan that the Wildcats have opened conference play by winning 75 percent of their first four contests. The 'Cats also did so in 2010 and 2002, and both of those seasons culminated with NCAA Tournament appearances.
Success in Five Sets
After playing in eight five-set matches in 2013 (6-2), the Wildcats have been pushed to the limit three times in 2014. Northwestern dropped the first two sets on opening night to Colorado before storming back to win three in a row. The Buffaloes led the decisive fifth set, 13-10, but the 'Cats closed the night on an emphatic 7-2 run to win the match. Yewande Akanbi had three kills during the match-winning surge. Then the Wildcats and Ohio Bobcats went back and forth on Sept. 18 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, splitting the first four frames. OU had the first two cracks at match point, but NU rallied for three consecutive tallies, including two on kills from Akanbi to win. Finally, Northwestern won the first set against Maryland Saturday before dropping the second and third by identical scores of 25-23. The 'Cats came back to life in the fourth set when it hit .417 as a team, while holding the Terps to just seven kills with seven errors. NU then went on to finish the fifth set, 17-15, which has been the deciding score in all three five-set matches.
Hitting Their Stride
After hitting .216 as a team in 2013, the Wildcats have increased their hitting percentage to .265 through 17 matches this season. That number ranks fifth in the deep and talented Big Ten Conference. Individually, middle blocker Katie Dutchman is leading the Purple and White with a hitting percentage of .416, ranking second in the Big Ten and 15th in the country. On the other side of the net, Northwestern's opponents attacked at a clip of .228 a year ago, but that number is down to just .167. The 'Cats rank fourth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage behind Penn State, Purdue and Michigan State.
For more notes and information about both teams for Wednesday's match, please download the PDFs at the top of the page.
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