Northwestern
5-0
Brown
0-3
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Northwestern Secures Fifth Straight Victory by Topping Brown
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SAN DIEGO -- Northwestern won its third three-set match of the young season and its fifth overall Saturday afternoon with a triumph over the Brown Bears at the USD-SDSU 2014 Challenge in San Diego.
Northwestern came from behind to win the first set, 25-22. Brown maintained a slight edge through most of the early going before back-to-back service aces from NU's Katie Dutchman evened the ledger at 16 points apiece. Back and forth they went when Brown's Maddie Lord later scored on a kill that evened the teams at 22-22. From there freshman Symone Abbott notched her sixth kill and Dutchman and Taylor Tashima teamed up for a block assist that out the 'Cats up by two, 24-22. Lord then made an attacking error that gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead for the match.
Brown doubled up the Wildcats to start the second set to the tune of 10-5. The purple and white rattled off a response with a 7-2 run that culminated in a kill by Dutchman to even the score at 12. Neither side would lead by more than two points for the duration of the set. The Wildcats had their first crack at set point after Monica McGreal converted a kill off a feed from Tashima. The Bears fought off the first attempt by NU, but Dutchman and Yewande Akanbi responded with consecutive terminations to give the 'Cats a 26-24 victory in the second set.
Brown lead only once in the third stanza, 5-4, before the Wildcats posted a nine-point victory, 25-16. Abbott had Northwestern's final two kills to cement a team-high 12 for the match.
Akanbi joined Abbott in double figures with 11 kills, while Dutchman tallied nine. Dutchman, a native of nearby Del Mar, Calif., also secured four blocks and a pair of aces in NU's fifth win of the season.
Northwestern will conclude its trip to California Saturday night against one of the tournament's two hosts. The Wildcats will take on No. 15 San Diego at 9:30 p.m. The match can be seen for free via TheW.tv. The two teams have only met one other time, 12 years ago to the day. The Toreros won that match in five sets on their home floor.
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