Volleyball

Northwestern had a refreshing weekend with two wins on the road against Ohio State and Maryland.

The Cats had an easy straight-set win against the Buckeyes on Friday night in Columbus, Ohio. Then Sunday, they earned another victory the hard way with a five-set victory against the Terrapins in College Park, Maryland.

In the first game, freshman outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara led the Cats with 12 kills while junior outside hitter Nia Robinson and junior middle hitter Alana Walker added 11 and six kills respectively.

NU (13-17, 4-14 Big Ten) was able to control the game and was consistent, while Ohio State (14-15, 7-10) committed 29 errors.

Led once again by Thomas-Ailara, Robinson and Walker on Sunday, the Cats beat Maryland at the Xfinity Center Pavilion for the first time since 2015.

“I was very proud of the way they responded,” coach Shane Davis said. “As a passing group and a defensive group moving to the rest of that match.”

Robinson had a team-high 19 kills, while Walker followed with 17 and Thomas-Ailara had 15.

The Cats stumbled in the first set against Maryland (13-17, 5-13). That was partially because of defensive issues highlighted by the Terrapins’ four aces in the first set. But NU fought off those struggles after the first set.

By the end of the fourth set, the match was tied 2-2. Thomas-Ailara, Robinson and Walker had all reached double-digit kills by that point.

The Cats started the fifth set with a 5-0 lead and were able to carry their consistent play throughout the set. Because NU kept the ball in play, the team won the set and the match.

Davis said the team is going to try to continue to play at this level in the upcoming games. He mentioned their goal of getting better as the season progresses and the team gets more players back from injury.

“We should keep staying healthy, get better and continue with our confidence as our play continues,” Davis said.

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