Indiana University Athletics
IU Sweeps Northwestern, 3-0
11/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
November 22, 2003
Box Score
Bloomington, Ind. - After a strong performance against No. 20 Illinois on Friday night, the Indiana volleyball team turned in an outstanding performance in a three-game sweep over Northwestern 33-31, 35-33, 30-25. The Hoosiers improve to 12-17 overall and 5-13 in the Big Ten, while the Wildcats fall to 17-13 and 8-10 in the league.
"I thought tonight we did a nice job from the service line, and it forced them out of the system a lot," said Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller. "We had seven service aces, but I thought what they (Northwestern) passed overall tonight was pretty low. It's hard to be in-system when the setter can't get to the ball and your hitters are hitting a lot of balls off the net and out-of-system. I felt like we forced them into that position tonight. And we did a nice job hitting the ball on our side."
Senior Katie Pollom (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) paced IU with a match-high 16 kills, hitting .467 to go along with four block assists. Junior Christina Archibald (Belleville, Ill./West) added 13 kills and has reached the 10-kill plateau in 45 of the last 46 matches she has participated in.
"We have upped our communication and the intensity is there," said Pollom. "We are going to carry that through to the next match."
In a game that featured 18 ties and 10 lead changes, IU took the opener 33-31. The teams split the opening 20 points before NU took its first lead of the game at 12-11. Indiana regained the lead at 18-17 following a kill by senior Monique Pritz (Columbus, Ind./East).
Northwestern kept it close, evening the game at 24-24 and scored four of the next six points to take a 28-26 lead. The Hoosiers stormed back to take a 29-28 lead after kills by seniors Melissa Brewer and Nikki Hill and a Wildcat error. After NU tallied the next two points, Pollom pounded a kill and another Northwestern error moved IU within a point of taking a 1-0 lead in the match. Hill delivered that point with a service ace, giving Indiana the victory.
Archibald led Indiana with six kills, hitting .500 in the game, while Pollom contributed three kills and three block assists.
As was the case in the first game, game two was a back-and-forth affair. Using the momentum they garnered in game one, the Hoosiers ran off to an early 9-7 lead. The Wildcats responded with a four-point run to take an 11-9 advantage.
IU fought back with a 9-3 run, gaining its largest lead of the game at 18-14. Indiana maintained its four-point cushion at 21-17 when the Wildcats scored three unanswered to trim the lead to one point. After splitting the next 12 points, the Hoosiers captured the next two points for a 29-27 lead. However, NU rallied, tying the game at 29-29.
Following two lead changes and three ties, the score sat at 33-33 when Pritz delivered a service ace and Pollom closed out the game with a kill, giving IU the 35-33 win.
Pollom turned in a huge performance in the game, finishing with seven kills on 11 attempts. Beth Heimann turned in a solid defensive effort with seven digs.
Looking to close out the match in game three, Indiana put on an offensive clinic. The team hit .407 in the game en route to a 30-25 win. IU moved out to a 13-7 lead with the help of two kills apiece by Pollom and Archibald.
The Hoosiers extended their lead to eight points at 25-17 and Northwestern never recovered. NU closed the gap to four points at 29-25, but a Wildcat service error closed out the game and the match and gave Indiana the victory.
Once again, Pollom turned in a strong effort in the third game, terminating six kills on nine attempts.
In addition to the play of Pollom and Archibald, junior Victoria Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) closed out the match with 37 assists, four kills and four digs.
" We did have great practice this week," said Zimmerman. "I think everyone is playing well and when there is no frustration and everyone is playing well, it is easier to have fun and not have to worry about mistakes that you make. And the passing was great tonight and that makes everything so much easier. It was a lot easier to play tonight and it was a lot of fun."
Next up, the Hoosiers return to the court to face intrastate rival Purdue in a battle for the Monon Spike. The teams will face off on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 p.m. at University Gym.
"Obviously every match is a big match for us," said Weismiller. "But we have Purdue, which is a big state rivalry, and they are going to be hungry and ready to play. Definitely we have gained some confidence. You can certainly see an element of confidence."
Additionally, Friday's match against Illinois will be televised on tape delay by Fox Sports Chicago on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 3:00 p.m. CST.
