Maintaining its high NCAA tournament hopes, the Northwestern volleyball team added two more conference wins over the weekend.
In two home matches, the Wildcats (16-12, 9-7 Big Ten) beat Purdue 3-1 on Friday and dominated Illinois 3-1 on Saturday. With the pair of victories, NU improved to fourth place in the conference, tied with Ohio State and Michigan.
The Cats have played their best volleyball in recent games with their tournament hopes on the line.
“The sense of urgency definitely helps,” junior middle blocker Erika Lange said.
In NU’s win against Purdue (11-18, 1-15), Lange posted a team-high 23 kills and six block assists.
Freshman outside hitter Christie Gardner also posted high numbers in both matches, with a career-high 20 kills on Friday. She earned another 16 kills on Saturday, in addition to 11 digs.
“I’m very happy with my performance, but the whole team played well,” Gardner said. “They were really balanced matches.”
NU dominated the first two games, but the Boilermakers squeaked out a 32-30 win in the third. The fourth game, however, was all NU as it closed out the match on a Purdue service error.
Riding the momentum from Friday’s win, NU kept rolling against Illinois (11-14, 5-11).
The Cats came out strong in the first game, outhitting the Fighting Illini .324 to .061, and easily took the frame 30-17. But Illinois answered NU’s high hitting percentage with an outstanding .429 in the second game and won 30-19.
Gardner said NU wasn’t too discouraged after the Illini tied the match at one game apiece.
“As long as we know that we’re better than the other team, we don’t get really nervous,” Gardner said.
The Cats showed no sign of nerves in the third game, hitting .543 to win 30-23. Junior outside hitter Iwona Lodzik, who earned a team-high 19 kills during the match, notched seven during the third game.
“We hit very well and our defense was really good,” Gardner said. “Every person in each position just played well.”
Sophomore setter Drew Robertson was also a major factor in the Cats’ victories. She posted 60 set assists on consecutive nights.
“Drew opens up a lot of opportunities for our hitters,” Lange said. “As a team, I think we’re better and more consistent.”
The two victories mark only the second time this season the Cats have won both of their weekend matches. Coincidentally, the last time it happened was in September — when NU beat Illinois and Purdue on the road.
“Our team usually plays one great match and then doesn’t play that well the next night,” Gardner said. “But this weekend we proved that we can come out and play two very good matches.”
By beating the Illini this weekend, the Cats earned a season sweep of their in-state rival for the first since 1984.
“There’s a big rivalry between us, and our games are always hard fought,” Lange said. “But it’s nice to bring the bragging rights home.”
Gardner said the prospect of making it to the NCAA tournament is the motivating factor for all of her teammates, but especially for the seniors.
“In their four years here, they haven’t made it,” Gardner said. “But now we’re on the brink of making it, so we all have to concentrate on the fact that we can beat any other team.”
Added Lange: “We want our seniors to go out having played in the tournament. They’ve worked so hard to bring the team to where it is now.”
