Being at home is usually an advantage for any sports team, and in the past, Northwestern has been no different. During the past three seasons, the Wildcats posted an impressive 27-15 record while playing in Welsh-Ryan Arena as opposed to a dismal 9-24 record on the road.
That all might be changing this year.
After picking up solid back-to-back splits in conference play on the road, including an upset against then-No. 25 Michigan State, coach Keylor Chan and his squad may not prefer playing in Evanston.
The Wildcats (13-6, 2-6 Big Ten) picked up the 3-1 win against Michigan State (15-5, 3-5) on Friday before being shut out 3-0 at Michigan (16-6, 4-4) the following night.
“We’re definitely disappointed with losing the Michigan game, but this weekend was a weekend of growth,” freshman defensive specialist Abbie Kraus said. “We really grew as a team and splitting on the road is fantastic in the Big Ten. So overall, we have pretty good feelings.”
In the Michigan State match, NU started strong, taking an early 14-10 lead in the first set. After the Spartans responded with a 3-0 run to bring it to 14-13 the Cats retaliated, going on a 6-2 run and ultimately taking the set 25-17. In the second frame, NU looked to be falling into old habits, giving up multiple Michigan State runs that cost the team the frame 25-19. But the Cats rebounded and put together back-to-back impressive performances in the third and fourth sets to win the match.
However, NU’s success on Friday did not carry over to the Michigan contest. After battling in a close first set that Michigan eventually won 25-23, NU opened the second set with a quick 9-5 run to take the lead. The Wolverines fought back with a quick 7-3 run and never relented, taking the frame 25-18. In the third, the Cats gained a 12-9 lead but could not hold off, losing the decisive set 25-22.
“We weren’t completely up and down. Our play was very consistent,” sophomore middle blocker Savannah Paffen said. “The first night our attitude was just to come out and dominate the other team and (against Michigan) we just lost a tiny bit of that focus and that’s what made the difference.”
The Cats are currently in 10th place in the Big Ten, a conference in which six of the 12 teams are ranked, and each future win will be critical if they hope to reach the postseason.
NU hopes to improve its play at Welsh-Ryan Arena heading into a home matchup with Iowa next weekend. The Cats have an 0-4 home record against Big Ten opponents.
“We have to take care of our home court,” Chan said. “That’s really important coming up here and our girls know that. Our goal is to just continue to improve and become a better team, and if we do that I know we’ll be able to turn these close sets into our favor.”
