'Cats Fall to Bruins, 3-0'Cats Fall to Bruins, 3-0

'Cats Fall to Bruins, 3-0

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern volleyball (7-6, 0-2 B1G) dropped a 3-0 match (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) to the UCLA Bruins (10-3, 1-1 B1G) on Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Mara Štiglic and Bella Bullington both reached double-digit kills in the match, collecting 14 and 11 respectively. On defense, Lauren Dignan extended her double-digit digs streak with 11, while Maya Stillwell led the front row with four blocks.

How It Happened

SET 1 | UCLA never trailed in set one despite Northwestern tying the score five times. Though the Bruins expanded their lead to as many as four points early on, 10-6, the ‘Cats battled back to even things up at 14-14 on a kill from Bullington. The two teams fought closely, but UCLA reached 20 first and controlled the set from there, scoring five of the final seven points to take a  25-20 victory. Brooke Harwood led the Bruins wire to wire in the first set, scoring the match’s opening point on her first of six kills in the frame. On the Northwestern side, Štiglic and Bullington put up a strong offensive fight, combining for 11 kills between them. 

SET 2 | Harwood opened the scoring in the second set as well, but Northwestern had an early answer this time. A kill from Bullington and an ace from Dignan gave the ‘Cats their first lead of the match, 2-1, and Northwestern maintained that lead well into the set. Six more kills from Štiglic powered the Wildcat offense, but the Bruins matched it, recording 17 kills as a team in the second set. UCLA grabbed the lead back at 16-15 and the ‘Cats couldn’t catch them from there, as the Bruins took another 25-20 set victory.

SET 3 | Set three began with a 4-0 UCLA run, setting the tone for the final frame. The Bruins expanded their lead to six points, 11-5, before Northwestern began a comeback. Though the ‘Cats narrowed the gap to two points, 16-14, they could not complete the rally, and the Bruins completed the 3-0 sweep with another 25-20 win in set three. UCLA’s defense was strong in the third set, putting up three blocks and limiting Northwestern to a sub-.200 attacking percentage.

Game Notes

  • Štiglic led the team in kills for the eighth time this season.
  • Dignan extended her double-digit dig streak to 11 straight matches, bringing her to 192 digs on the season, which surpassed her total from all of last year (183).
  • With 27 assists in the game, Ellie Stiernagle improved her season total to 488, which moved her into eighth place in Northwestern program history for first-year assists.

Up Next

The 'Cats will hit the road next week to continue their Big Ten schedule at No. 15 Minnesota on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. Following that, Northwestern returns home next Saturday to host Ohio State at 7 p.m. CT at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Both games will be streamed on B1G+.