Northwestern Celebrates Senior Night With Sweep of Maryland

11/19/2016 9:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Stats

Coach Davis Interview

Highlights

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern sent its seniors out in style Saturday night, beating Maryland in a 3-0 sweep on senior night in the last volleyball match at Welsh-Ryan Arena before it undergoes a $110 million renovation next year.

"We did a nice job jumping out in each set and extending the lead," head coach Shane Davis said. "We let Maryland back in with a few miscues, but it was great to see us bounce back and kind of reset ourselves and continue to battle."

Senior Sofia Lavin had a huge impact on the win, matching her season-high with 13 kills, hitting over .300 and adding three aces. Junior Symone Abbott put away a match-high 16 kills and collected nine digs to go along with an ace, an assist and a block.

Another senior, Kayla Morin, ended her home career with a good effort, notching seven kills on .389 hitting. Maddie Slater hit .429 and had three blocks, and Caleigh Ryan and Rafae Strobos combined for 12 digs.

"Our seniors have shown tremendous leadership," Davis said. "They weren't put in an easy position. 11 months ago we were introducing ourselves to one another. It has been great to know them on and off the court. I can't thank them enough for their commitment, dedication and loyalty to Northwestern volleyball."

Junior setter Taylor Tashima dished out 32 assists and also had a match-high 18 digs. She now has 2,982 career assists and is just 18 away from reaching 3,000.

Lavin provided relentless offense from the start that helped will the team to victory. Her seven kills and .600 hitting percentage in the first set alone kept the momentum on Northwestern's side and helped lead the 'Cats to a 26-24 win in the opening frame.

Freshman libero Sarah Johnson also provided a spark in the first set on the defensive side. Seven of her 13 digs came in the first, where she also chipped in an assist and an ace.

The second set was won with an excellent all-around team performance. Abbott, Lavin and Morin each provided four kills, and five players combined to record 24 digs. The Wildcats notched a 25-22 victory to go into intermission with a comfortable lead.

Abbott simply took over in the decisive third set. Northwestern's active leader in kills pounded home nine on 11 attempts.

After NU fell behind briefly at 10-9, Abbott had a run of four consecutive kills to flip the script, with the final set ending at 25-21 in favor of Chicago's Big Ten Team.

The outstanding overall performance from the Wildcats accentuated an emotional night for all in attendance, who celebrated the senior class as well as giving a worthy farewell to the current arena.

Northwestern will be back on the court next Friday at Penn State, followed by a match at Rutgers Saturday night to close out the 2016 season.