After a tight battle against Indiana Friday that ultimately ended in defeat, Northwestern lost its second match of the weekend to Michigan State Sunday. 

The five-set loss against Indiana included a fourth set in which the Wildcats never trailed. Senior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara led NU in kills, reaching double digits in both kills and digs. Thomas-Ailara’s efforts during the match pushed her to sixth in program history for career kills. Senior middle blocker Desiree Becker recorded a match-high attack percentage of .625. 

In her first match back after several weeks out due to injury, junior setter Alexa Rousseau chipped in a match high of 39 assists.

Returning to Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday, the Cats fell in three straight sets to the Spartans.  The loss dropped NU to 17-13 overall and 6-12 in the Big Ten. In a tight match, NU tied Michigan State seven times in each of the first two sets and 17 times in the third set. The back and forth resulted in a 26-28 score in the second set and a 27-29 score in the third. 

Rousseau recorded another 39 assists while fifth-year outside hitter Hanna Lesiak reached double digits in kills and digs. Thomas-Ailara added in 17 kills and fifth-year libero Megan Miller recorded 10 digs. 

The Cats have yet to win a match this month. Sunday’s loss extended NU’s losing streak to six. 

NU will next face Penn State Wednesday in Welsh-Ryan Arena. 

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