Northwestern Falls to No. 18 Purdue

10/8/2017 2:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Zach Wingrove

EVANSTON, Ill. — Senior outside hitter Symone Abbott continued to climb up the Northwestern record books on Sunday as she moved into a tie with Dawn Reig for sixth place all-time in career kills.

After starting the match with 1,471 career kills, Abbott would finish with a team-high 10 kills to move her total to 1,481 for her career. She is now tied with Reig and need 10 kills to pass Madelyn Meneghetti for fifth all-time.

Northwestern (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) dropped the second half of its Big Ten weekend matches, falling to No. 18 Purdue (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten) in three sets at the historic Beardsley Gym at Evanston Township High School.

The 'Cats jumped out to a quick start in the first set thanks to a balanced attack all-around. Senior Gabrielle Hazen led the charge with four total blocks, two kills, and two service aces. First-year Nia Robinson also got off to fast start with four kills in the set, while Abbott led the team with five kills of her own. However, the Boilermakers would go on to win the set 27-25 and take a 1-0 advantage.

After dropping the second set, the #B1GCats showed great resiliency as they battled Purdue evenly throughout the third set. After Purdue pulled ahead with a 20-14 lead late in the set, NU came roaring back with four consecutive points including back-to-back aces from Hazen to cut the lead to 20-18. Later in the set, Northwestern fended off three consecutive match points before finally falling 25-23.

Six Wildcats finished with kills on the day, with Robinson adding eight and first-year Alana Walker notching seven. Taylor Tashima finished just short of a double-double with a team-high 29 assists and seven digs. Hazen would finish the day with seven kills along with a team-high four service aces and seven total blocks.

Northwestern and Purdue finished the match tied with 10 team blocks each. The Wildcats also led the match with 10 service aces, tying the team's season high.

Chicago's Big Ten team continues its four-match home-stand next weekend as it hosts Maryland on Oct. 13 and Ohio State on Oct. 14, with both matches held at DePaul University's McGrath-Phillips Arena due to a scheduling conflict at Beardsley Gym. First serve against Maryland is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.