Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
0-4,0-0Big Ten
Long Beach State
2-2,0-0Big West
Wildcats Fall Just Short in 3-2 Loss to Long Beach State
9/7/2024 9:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Northwestern volleyball team fell 3-2 (17-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 10-15) to the Long Beach State Beach (2-2) Saturday on the road at Walter Pyramid.
The non-conference loss moved Northwestern to 0-4 on the season.
The Wildcats attack was once again paced by Buse Hazan, who finished with a season-high 20 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .250, and by Kathryn Randorf, who had 11 kills. Defensively, the 'Cats had three players reach double figures in digs, including Drew Wright's 18, 11 from Alexa Rousseau, and 10 more from Lily Wagner. From the front row, Sophia Summers contributed six blocks and Kennedy Hill added five rejections.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Wildcats fell behind early, dropping a tough first set 25-17. Northwestern trailed by as many as nine points as Long Beach State grabbed the advantage for good at 5-4 in a set that was tied up four times before the Beach took control.
SET 2 | Northwestern fell again in the second set, 25-21, digging a 2-0 deficit in the match. The Wildcats dropped the set after back-and-forth action, losing in a stanza that featured four lead changes and was tied 14 times. Neither team led by more than four points along the way.
SET 3 | Northwestern rallied back in the third, winning their first set of the match, 25-16. They were helped by a solid showing on the attacking end. Northwestern put together a .458 attack percentage with 13 kills in the set win. The Wildcats ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out the stanza.
SET 4 | Northwestern then kept the comeback rolling, winning the fourth set 25-18 to bring the match level at two sets apiece. The Wildcats grabbed control of the set at 2-1 and held the lead the rest of the way. Northwestern led by seven points at 22-15 before closing out. Northwestern got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked five Long Beach State attacks in the set and capitalized on 10 Long Beach State attacking errors on the way to victory.
SET 5 | After Northwestern opened an early lead in the final set, Long Beach State took over late to close out the frame 15-10 and clinch the 3-2 match victory.
Game Notes
» Buse Hazan had a match-high three aces in the loss in addition to her 20 kills. The junior has reached double-digit kills in all four of her matches with Northwestern so far.
» Northwestern attackers were helped by a team-high 27 assists from Alexa Rousseau, who registered her fourth double-double of the season with 11 digs as well.
» Rylen Reid collected a career-high four blocks in the contest.
Up Next
The Wildcats will return home and prepare to host Notre Dame for their Welsh-Ryan opener on Thursday evening. First serve of that match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and tickets are on sale now.
