Futile effort might be one way to describe it — the Northwestern volleyball team has not won a Big Ten match in the state of Michigan in 12 years.
And the Wildcats extended that tough streak even further last weekend.
NU (7-13, 2-8 Big Ten) lost to Michigan in three games — 16-30, 32-34, 27-30 — on Friday.
Sophomore Julie Purcell came off the bench to lead the Cats with 16 kills, but it wasn’t enough to offset the Wolverines’ spread attack. Michigan (15-6, 5-5) had six players record at least seven kills.
NU has not won in Ann Arbor, Mich., since 1990.
Facing Michigan State (7-11, 2-8) on Saturday, NU senior co-captain Drew Robertson recorded her sixth consecutive double-double with 55 assists and 10 digs, but the Cats lost in four games, 24-30, 27-30, 30-26, 25-30.
“It’s frustrating that we just can’t get a win,” Robertson said. “We just have to keep working to get better, that’s all I can say.”
Behind a crowd of more than 1,500 fans, Michigan blitzed NU with a series of runs to begin the first game. The Cats soon found themselves on the wrong end of a 30-16 blowout.
“I wish I had an answer,” coach Keylor Chan said. “Michigan’s crowd was pretty rowdy, and I think that definitely had a little bit of an effect on us, but that’s something we have to learn to deal with.
“It’s not going to change anywhere we go, so we can’t use that as an excuse.”
After a lineup adjustment, NU played significantly better in the second game, which turned into an up-and-down affair featuring nine ties and nine lead changes.
The Cats had a chance to win after Robertson recorded a solo block to bring the score to 30-29, but Michigan rallied and eventually won 34-32.
“Seeing the score of the first game and how badly we got beaten — no one wants to get embarrassed like that — probably triggered us to get more focused,” Robertson said. “I think the second game was more representative of our team than the other games this weekend, but it still wasn’t a win.”
When NU traveled to Michigan State the following night, the team was greeted by an even larger crowd. Behind nearly 2,000 fans, the Spartans played inspired volleyball, and with the win leapfrogged NU in the standings.
“We just need to learn how to play on the road,” senior Leah Delcourt said. “It’s hard to get anything done, but it’s just something people have to get used to.”
Purcell had 13 kills, but freshmen outside hitters Stephanie Jurivich and Lindsay Anderson led the team with 14 kills. Jurivich continued her consistent play by leading all hitters with a .444 percentage.
At 7-13 overall, the Cats need to win eight of their remaining 10 matches to have any shot of qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
“We have ten matches left, and we need to come out and just compete because we have nothing to lose at this point,” Purcell said. “We just need to come out and finish our season a lot better than it has been going.”
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
Body 4 ———————————————————————–
NU 0
mich 3
Body 5 ———————————————————————–
NU 1
mich st. 3 3
