Indiana University Athletics
IU Loses at Northwestern
10/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
October 24, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Indiana volleyball team opened its Illinois two-game swing with a loss at Northwestern 30-24, 30-20, 30-26. IU falls to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten, while the Wildcats improve to 12-9 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play.
"Northwestern came out ready to play tonight," said Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller. "We're working hard and eventually it's going to happen for us. We just have to stay with it, keep at it and stay excited. One of these days things are going to turnaround."
In her first start of the season, sophomore Mandy Eberle (Sussex, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) pounded two kills and one block assist helping the Hoosiers stay even with Northwestern through the first 12 points of game one. The Wildcats broke the deadlock with a 12-5 run, opening up an 18-11 lead.
IU responded with back-to-back kills from Eberle and a kill from junior Christina Archibald (Belleville, Ill./West) to slice the deficit to 24-22, but Northwestern would not allow Indiana to get any closer. The Wildcats rallied for six of the final eight points to win game one, 30-24.
Eberle ended the game with four kills and two block assists and Archibald and senior Melissa Brewer (Bloomington, Ind./North) contributed four kills apiece.
After falling behind 14-6 in game two, the Hoosiers closed the gap to three points at 15-12. Brewer led IU back with two kills and two block assists in the 6-1 run. However, Northwestern stymied the Indiana come back, scoring the next three points to build its lead to six points en route to a 30-20 victory.
Junior Katie Pollom (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) paced the Hoosiers with four kills and one block solo in the game.
Northwestern rushed out to an early 6-3 lead in game three, but Brewer and senior Monique Pritz (Columbus, Ind./East) brought IU back with consecutive kills to even the game at 6-6. The game remained tied at 9-9 until Pritz and Archibald gave the Hoosiers a two-point cushion at 11-9 with back-to-back kills.
Once again, the Wildcats stormed back, scoring five of the next six points to regain the lead at 14-12. Indiana answered with a five-point run, grabbing its largest lead of the match at 17-14. However, Northwestern used a 5-0 run of its own to take a 20-18 lead and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way, winning the game, 30-26,and closing out the match, 3-0.
Archibald closed the match with a team-high 11 kills to extend her streak with at least 10 kills to 31 straight matches. Brewer added 10 kills and moved into second place on IU's career list for total blocks with her six block assists. She now has 459 total blocks in her career.
The Hoosiers return to the court Saturday night at Big Ten leader Illinois at 7:00 p.m.
"Illinois is another great opportunity for us," said Weismiller. "If we show up and pull it together we will be fine."
