With several youngsters unseasoned in conference play, the Northwestern volleyball team could not overcome an abundance of mistakes as the team dropped two games to begin its Big Ten season.
The Cats (5-7, 0-2 Big Ten) were swept by No. 4 Penn State and No. 20 Ohio State over the weekend at Welsh-Ryan Arena. They kept the scores close in almost every game, but untimely errors kept them from ever seizing control of the matches.
“It’s about growing,” coach Keylor Chan said about his young team, which features six freshmen. “This process isn’t going to happen overnight.
“You have to go through some — as every coach says — challenges and adversity, and you have to fail before you can be successful, and our team’s learning how to do that.”
The Cats jumped ahead 7-2 in the first game against Penn State (10-0, 1-0), but errors stifled their momentum. The story was much the same in the next game — after the Cats scored three straight points to claw to a 22-22 tie, they gave three right back, starting with a service error. NU never recovered, as the Nittany Lions ended the game on an 8-2 run.
Overall, the Cats committed 30 errors in the three games (25-30, 24-30, 24-30) and struggled on the attack. Three of the team’s highly touted freshmen — Courtnie Paulus, Brittney Aldridge and Lindsay Anderson — finished with negative hitting percentages, though Aldridge did record a solo block and five block assists.
“I think that we’re a young team, and we’re still learning to play as a team,” said sophomore Julie Purcell, who led the team with 12 kills. “What our coaches are working on with us right now and telling us a lot is that we’re our own worst enemy as far as the errors we’re making.”
The Cats’ problems continued the next night against Ohio State (12-0, 2-0). In the third game of what would be a Buckeyes’ sweep (23-30, 17-30, 25-30), NU hit an abysmal percentage, with more errors (nine) than kills (eight).
The Cats also had no answer for All-Big Ten candidate Stacey Gordon, who coach Chan called maybe “the best player in the country right now.” Gordon ended up with 20 kills and 12 digs.
“It’s just hard with a young team, but as soon as we get that first (Big Ten) win, I think we’ll be a lot better,” said senior co-captain Drew Robertson, who recorded a double-double with 34 assists and 16 digs against Penn State and had 26 assists against Ohio State.
In addition to the solid effort from Robertson and junior co-captain Christie Gardner, who recorded 39 digs over the weekend, another bright spot for the Cats was the return of fifth-year senior Leah Delcourt, who had been out for six weeks with a broken finger.
Delcourt made a brief appearance in the Penn State game. But she really made her mark against Ohio State, when she anchored the middle and recorded two blocks, including one off Gordon.
Also, freshman Courtnie Paulus recovered from a bad game against Penn State by nailing a team-leading eight kills against the Buckeyes. Purcell and redshirt freshman Stephanie Jurivich notched six kills each.
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
