Northwestern dropped its weekend matches against Illinois and No. 2 Nebraska at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Mirroring their Oct. 6 loss to their in-state rivals on Friday, the Wildcats (4-16, 2-10 Big Ten) won the match’s first set before falling in straight sets to the Fighting Illini (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten).
Offensive struggles and graduate student middle blocker Sophia Summers’ absence due to injury hampered coach Tim Nollan’s squad.
“Any time you lose someone who’s played in a lot of matches, (Sophia) being a grad student (who) played in the Final Four, obviously you’re going to miss some of that leadership on the court,” Nollan said. “The team’s motto is ‘next person up,’ and we embody that.”
In NU’s loss, graduate student setter Alexa Rousseau fell just short of a triple-double, tallying nine kills, 17 assists and 13 digs. The ’Cats’ junior outside hitters also played a role in Friday’s offense, with Rylen Reid recording a team-high 10 kills and Buse Hazan adding another nine.
Serving defined the first set’s opening points. Three of Illinois’ first four servers committed errors, while sophomore libero Drew Wright, Hazan and junior middle blocker Kennedy Hill each aced the Fighting Illini early.
Illinois fought back, tying the set at seven, but the ’Cats’ offense came alive to help NU pull ahead. Despite a last-minute comeback attempt by the Fighting Illini, a kill by Hazan clinched a 25-22 set victory.
“I thought our passing was pretty good in the first set, so that allowed us to have some rhythm with the setters,” Nollan said. “And offense has been kind of our struggle all year. So the more rhythm sets we can have, the better we’re going to be.”
The remaining sets in the game followed similar patterns. The hosts and Illinois were neck-and-neck early on, but the ’Cats’ .029, .031 and .118 hitting percentages helped the Fighting Illini pull ahead. In all three sets, miscues and out-of-system plays plagued the ’Cats. Illinois retained its lead and outlasted NU 25-17, 25-13 and 25-19, winning the match 3-1.
“We were just missing out on a few opportunities of scoring more points as the game went on,” Rousseau said. “We had five aces in the first set, so that helped us out a lot because we didn’t kill a ton of balls.”
Friday also marked former Wildcat Averie Hernandez’s return to Evanston. The junior outside hitter for the Fighting Illini tallied five kills and seven digs in her first game at Welsh-Ryan since her spring transfer.
The loss preceded No. 2 Nebraska’s Sunday sweep of the ’Cats. In the first sellout game in program history, the packed Welsh-Ryan Arena was a sea of Cornhusker red, and the perennial powerhouse was equally relentless.
“That’s part of the magic of the Big Ten Conference: venues are full and people are invested and care about the sport, and that’s what makes this conference so special,” Nollan said. “And to have it here showcase everyone that we’re part of this too … was exciting.”
The Cornhuskers’ (22-1, 12-0 Big Ten) offense got Nebraska off to a quick 6-1 start in the first set, prompting an early timeout call by Nollan. Behind Hazan, who tallied five kills throughout the set, NU narrowed its deficit to 12-16, but it wasn’t enough. Overpowered by the .306-hitting Cornhuskers, the ’Cats fell 25-18.
NU held its own to start set two, helped by errors on Nebraska’s side of the net, but the Cornhuskers soon pulled ahead. Kills from junior outside hitter Kathryn Randorf and Hill kept the ’Cats in contention, but a 4-0 Nebraska run soon extinguished NU’s chances.
An overpass kill by Cornhuskers’ setter Bergen Reilly secured the second-set victory for Nebraska, 25-15.
The Cornhuskers rallied early in the third set and kept the momentum until the end. Two kills apiece from Hazan and sophomore outside hitter Lily Wagner, alongside three from Randorf, served as the ’Cats’ offense.
NU also capitalized on a couple of Nebraska’s errors. But a few short runs from Nebraska later, the Cornhuskers captured the set, 25-15, and the match 3-0.
Hazan’s eight kills led the ‘Cats in Sunday’s match, with Rousseau and Randorf each adding another six. On the defensive side, Wright tallied a team-high 12 digs.
“It was going to be about teamwork,” Wright said. “We’re not going to out-physical them. So I think we really embrace playing together, and defense, hitting the ball off the floor and doing our best to just have fun.”
NU will be back in action Friday against No. 3 Penn State at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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