Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
13-8 (3-7B1G)
Indiana
13-9 (4-6B1G)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 25 | 22 | 26 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Northwestern | 23 | 25 | 28 | 23 | 13 | 2 |
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Closely Contested Match Goes Against the Wildcats
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the third match in a row Northwestern needed five sets to decide the outcome of a Big Ten match and for the third time it fell in defeat, this time the visiting Indiana Hoosiers, 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 26-28, 25-23, 15-13).
After being pushed to the limit by No. 13 Purdue on Friday night at home, the Wildcats went the distance once again Saturday. The 'Cats dropped a close first frame, 25-23, before winning sets two and three by only three and two points, respectively. Indiana squeaked out another 25-23 triumph in the fourth before winning the final set, 15-13, to secure its fourth conference victory of the season.
Northwestern led the first set by as many as four points early on at 11-7 when the Hoosiers were whistled for being out of rotation. The visitors stuck around and tied the score on a few occasions before nabbing a 20-19 lead on a kill by Awele Nwaeze. The Wildcats fought off three set points with a kill from Symone Abbott and an ace from Monica McGreal sandwiched around an IU attacking error, but Amelia Anderson later buried her second kill of the night to give her team a 25-23 triumph.
The second stanza was another closely contested affair. Indiana led early on, 8-4, but Chicago's Big Ten Team methodically chipped away at the deficit and eventually used a 7-2 run to grab the lead, 11-10. Later on, a serving error by the 'Cats gave the Hoosiers a 22-21 edge, but the home team buckled down and got kills from Kayla Morin and Abbott, plus two hitting miscues on IU, to propel it a 25-22 triumph. That was the largest margin of victory during the entire match.
Northwestern brought its hitting percentage up to .276 in the second set after attacking at a clip of just .132 in the opener. Morin and Taylor Tashima had four kills apiece, while the team committed only three errors.
Staying true to form, the third set was back and forth much of the way, and so much so that the teams needed extra points to decide it. Indiana had the first shot at set point with a 24-22 lead, but a service error pulled the 'Cats within a point. After that, Abbott buried a ball from Caleigh Ryan to knot it once again. The Hoosiers had a second crack at set point with a 26-25 advantage, but Tashima buried one of her career-high 14 kills to keep hope alive for the 'Cats. NU got it done defensively by mounting back-to-back blocks - the first by Abbott and Maddie Slater, and the second by Slater and Savannah Paffen - to secure a 28-26 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth frame naturally went down to the wire just like the previous three. The score was tied at 17-17 when Indiana surged ahead behind a 6-3 run to go up 23-20. Northwestern countered with a three-point push of its own that was capped by a another big block from Slater and Paffen. The visitors answered that with a kill from Jazzmine McDonald ahead of a block from McDonald and Allison Hammond to nail down a 25-23 victory and force a decisive fifth set.
Northwestern used a 6-2 run with the score even at four points apiece to take a 10-6 lead, which is critical in the race to 15 points. IU scored the next four points, however, when Katie Duthcman rose up and stuffed an attempt from Nwaeze to end that push. Later trailing by one, Tashima and Dutchman combo blocked Anderson to even the ledger at 12-12, but Indiana showed its resiliency once again and rattled off two points in row to set up set point at 14-12. The Wildcats fought off the first and clawed to within one, but NU's final serve went just over the end line to hand Indiana the win.
Tashima, a freshman, led NU with a career-high 14 kills and she finished one dig sky of her first collegiate triple-double. The Wilmette, Ill., native added 26 assists and nine digs for Northwestern Saturday. On Friday night against Purdue, Tashima was just one kill shy of accomplishing the rare feat with 28 assists and 20 digs. She leads the squad with eight double-doubles.
Ryan also notched a double-double, her first of the season, behind 26 assists of her own to go along with 12 digs. Morin was one of two Wildcats with 13 kills (also Abbott) and she chipped in with 12 digs for her fourth double-double and added six blocks in a strong all-around effort. Slater led all players with seven blocks Saturday.
After a brief stint in Evanston this weekend, the Wildcats will be back on the road for a pair of contests next weekend. Northwestern will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to battle the Michigan Wolverines on Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. CT before continuing on to East Lansing to tangle with the Michigan State Spartans on Nov. 1, also at 6 p.m.
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