'Cats Swept by No. 18 Washington'Cats Swept by No. 18 Washington
Kailey Zagst/Northwestern Athletics

'Cats Swept by No. 18 Washington

SEATTLE, Wash. - Northwestern volleyball (7-17, 0-13 B1G) dropped a 3-0 match to the No. 18 Washington Huskies (18-4, 9-4 B1G) at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday evening, falling 25-17, 25-15, 25-22.

Campbell Paris paced the ‘Cats with 10 kills, her 11th double-digit performance of the season. Ellie Stiernagle added 25 assists to her season total in addition to a team-high four blocks on the evening, and Lauren Dignan led with nine digs.

How It Happened

SET 1 | Northwestern and Washington tied eight times in the first half of set one, trading points until the media break. Stiglic powered the Wildcat offense with four kills, and Stiernagle combined with Hayley Schaaf for a clutch block. After the timeout, however, the Huskies took over, going on a 10-3 run to close the set and take the lead with a 25-17 victory.

SET 2 | The ‘Cats led early in set two, riding four kills from Paris to take a 7-6 lead over the Huskies. Once again, though, Washington took over. The Huskies hit .579 in the second set and used four aces to keep pressure on the Wildcat defense. In the end, it was a 25-15 second-set win for Washington.

SET 3 | The third set was the closest of the bunch, featuring nine ties and five lead changes. The sides swapped points nearly through the end, tying up as late as 21-21. Northwestern featured a balanced attack, with Schaaf, Paris and Bella Bullington all chipping in three kills in the frame. After Paris grabbed the lead for the ‘Cats late, 21-20, the Huskies once again had an answer in the closing stages. Washington ran off four kills, dropping just one more point on a service error, to wrap up the 25-22 victory in set three and complete the sweep.

Game Notes

  • Schaaf hit .500, collecting four kills on eight swings with zero errors.
  • Paris had a season-high five digs to go along with her 10 kills.

Up Next

The ‘Cats will wrap up their West Coast road trip on Sunday, when they will visit No. 12 Oregon for an 8 p.m. CT matchup. Action will be streamed on B1G+.