Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
16-15, 6-14B1G
Maryland
10-21, 3-17B1G
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern | 25 | 23 | 18 | 25 | 13 | 2 |
| Maryland | 22 | 25 | 25 | 14 | 15 | 3 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Wildcats Drop Season Finale at Maryland, 3-2
11/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Northwestern concluded the 2014 regular season with a heartbreaking five-set loss at the hands of the Maryland Terrapins Saturday night in its first-ever trip to the Xfinity Pavilion (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 14-25, 15-13).
Symone Abbott led three Wildcats who recorded double-digit kills with 18, adding two digs and two blocks. Redshirt senior Katie Dutchman, playing in her final collegiate match, netted 10 kills and tied teammate Maddie Slater with a match-best seven blocks. Slater, a sophomore, put down eight kills of her own on 10 swings without an error.
Northwestern got off to an ideal start with a 25-22 victory in the opening set. Abbott and Dutchman combined to record eight of NU's 12 kills in the first stanza and the pair did not have an attacking error. Setter Caleigh Ryan was responsible for six assists in the first set.
Maryland bounced back and snagged a two-point win in the second set, 25-23. It was tight throughout and the Terps had the first chance to secure set point with a 24-21 cushion late in the frame. Kayla Morin buried consecutive kills sandwiched around a timeout to slice the deficit to a single point, but a bad set by the 'Cats allowed the home team to even the match at a set apiece.
Morin had the hot hand in set two with five of the team's 11 kills, including the two pivotal shots down the stretch. Maryland hit .257 as a team, however, and overcame seven serving errors to secure the set.
The home team grabbed its first overall lead with a 25-18 victory in the third set. With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats were the aggressors for the entire third set, winning 25-14, to force a decisive fifth frame. Northwestern mounted an impressive eight-point run with Dutchman serving and the score knotted at three and Maryland was never able to recover. The lead grew as large as 13 points (18-5) after a block by Slater and Savannah Paffen, and the advantage never slipped below nine points.
Maryland scored five of the first seven points in the fifth game to go ahead 5-2, but Northwestern responded with a 5-2 surge of its own to even the score at seven. Slater had two kills during that run and Morin had one of her 12 on the night. Back and forth the teams went with Abbott evening the score at 12-12 following a timeout that was called by NU head coach Keylor Chan.
Ashleigh Crutcher buried consecutive kills to set up match point, but Abbott and the Wildcats fought it off with another termination. The Terps called timeout as they clung to a 14-13 lead, but after the respite Crutcher delivered once again to help Maryland win its third Big Ten match of its inaugural season in the powerful conference.
Northwestern finished the regular season with an overall mark of 16-15 and six wins in Big Ten play. The Wildcats have won 16 matches in each of the last four seasons under Chan.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for 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!
