Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Volleyball: Cats drop 4th straight in Big Ten

In Northwestern’s first appearance on the newly installed Big Ten Network, the Wildcats fell to the Michigan State Spartans, 3-1, in East Lansing, Mich., on Wednesday night.

NU started conference play strong with a comeback victory against Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State on Sept. 21.

Since then, the Cats (10-6, 1-4 Big Ten) have dropped four straight matches against conference opponents. Michigan State (10-7, 1-4 Big Ten) earned its first Big Ten win Wednesday.

Senior middle blocker Brittney Aldridge bolstered the Cats’ play.

The veteran recorded the second double-double of her career with a total of 12 kills and 10 blocks. She finished the night with a .500 hitting percentage and also moved into fourth place all-time at NU with 344 block assists.

When told of her double-double, Aldridge confessed surprise toward her accomplishment. Her focus, it seemed, lay with the team’s performance.

“When it gets tight, we really need to learn to get ahead of teams,” Aldridge said. “In the last 10 points, we really need to stop making unforced errors.”

Throughout the match, both the Cats’ and the Spartans’ play was littered with mistakes. Michigan State committed a number of net violations that helped keep NU close.

After hitting .606 in the first game, the Spartans hit .229, .068 and .324 over the last three games.

In turn, the Cats squandered a number of opportunities with a multitude of service violations.

The sloppy play was perhaps best exemplified by NU’s performance at the end of the second game.

Down 26-25, the Cats went on to lose three of the next four points, all on unforced errors.

To cap it off, senior outside hitter Lindsay Anderson, known for her impressive serve, sent the ball sailing into the net to give the Spartans a 30-27 victory.

In total, the two teams combined for 51 errors: the Cats with 26 and the Spartans with 25.

Despite losing three games to one, NU remained competitive for the length of the match.

Streaky play marked both teams’ play, as the match contained a total of 34 ties and 16 lead changes. The Cats won the third set, 30-25, and lost the three others by a combined nine points.

“At times we played well,” NU coach Keylor Chan said. “We were, as the game scores show, in every game. We just need to learn to minimize errors.”

Going into the match, Michigan State was recovering from a string of poor Big Ten performances after beginning the season with a promising 9-3 record.

Michigan State relied on a trio of heavy hitters to put away the Cats. A pair of senior outside hitters, Katie Johnson and Ashley Schatzle, and sophomore middle blocker Vanessa King accounted for 48 of Michigan State’s 67 kills.

King registered 14 kills and led the Spartans in hitting percentage at .667.

“There were two important factors to (Wednesday’s) match,” Chan said. “One, we didn’t pass very well. We also knew we had to control Michigan State’s outside hitters, and we didn’t execute that part of our game plan.”

Aldridge’s performance stood out strongly in a night mired in disappointment.

“Brittney played just like I expected her to,” Chan said. “She was definitely a bright spot for us.”

Reach Jimmy Mitchell at [email protected].

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Volleyball: Cats drop 4th straight in Big Ten