In the past week the Northwestern volleyball team has played No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 7 Minnesota, two of the top three teams in the Big Ten.
Tonight the Wildcats face the third in No. 13 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. Such is life in the Big Ten.
Ohio State (20-2, 10-2 Big Ten) is tied with Minnesota for second place in the conference. The Buckeyes have won three matches in a row since losing to Penn State, 3-2, on Oct. 20.
The Cats look to end an 11-match losing streak tonight against the Buckeyes. NU has dropped all 12 road matches this season, and the Cats lost their first meeting with Ohio State 3-0 on Sept. 30.
The Buckeyes are dangerous with a balanced offensive attack. Five Ohio State players average at least 2.96 kills per game, led by senior Dana Stearns (3.39 kills per game). NU freshman Erika Lange is the only NU player who is in that league statistically at 3.48 kills per game.
Lange also ranks second in the Big Ten in blocks, averaging 1.41 per game.
“We need to go out and learn how to compete on a nightly basis,” NU coach Keylor Chan said. “We have to address that in practice.”
Senior Jennifer Armson said emotion and consistency are two key factors to the Cats’ success tonight and throughout the remainder of the season. NU played flat in every aspect of its Wednesday loss to Wisconsin, and the Cats need to turn that around to have a shot at upsetting Ohio State.