Over the weekend, Northwestern faced two Big Ten tests at Welsh-Ryan Arena, including a matchup with a top-10 opponent, but was unable to pull out victories in either contest.
The Wildcats (11-5, 1-3 Big Ten) first took on Michigan State on Friday, falling in four sets, 15-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-21.
NU got off to a fast start, led by strong performances at the net from outside hitters senior Rylen Reid and freshman Bella Bullington. In the 25-15 first set win, Reid had three kills and two blocks while Bullington had two kills and two blocks. Each finished the match with 15 kills — the only ’Cats in double-digits.
The Spartans (12-2, 2-2 Big Ten) quickly turned the tables in the second set, beating the ’Cats by the same 25-15 score. The visitors had three service aces and did not have any attack errors during the set. Coach Tim Nollan said the ’Cats struggled to react to Michigan State’s success at the service line, forcing them into difficult offensive situations.
“I thought we came out really well and applied pressure, and then they were able to, in the second set, kind of flip the script and serve us into some trouble,” Nollan said following Friday’s match. “Our passing broke down. They served us out of system over 70% of the time, starting the second set all the way through the fourth. It’s really tough to win when that happens.”
Michigan State went on five three-point scoring runs in the second set, led by outside hitter Bianca Mumcular, who finished with a match-high 16 kills. The next two sets were more evenly matched, but the Spartans pulled out 25-20 and 25-21 wins to clinch the 3-1 victory.
No. 10 Minnesota got off to a hot start against NU on Sunday, winning the first two sets 25-18 and 25-22. The Golden Gophers (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten) looked ready to cruise into a three-set victory before the ’Cats responded with a decisive 25-17 third set.
Graduate student outside hitter Ayah Elnady led the charge with five kills during the set, tallying a double-double by the match’s conclusion with 14 kills and 10 digs. Nollan credited junior liberos Drew Wright and Gigi Navarrete for establishing the offensive system with accurate passes, allowing tVisit Sitehe ’Cats to finish with efficient attacks.
“The team was consistently able to give [our hitters] a ball they can deal with,” Nollan said following Sunday’s match. “When you’re passing in-system, the setters have a lot more choices and it frees things up.”
Minnesota regained control early in the fourth set, jumping out to a 16-12 lead. However, the ’Cats won four straight points to even the score, including three kills from Bullington, who finished with 14 kills in her third consecutive 10-plus kill performance. After taking its first lead of the set at 19-18, NU surrendered four consecutive points to the Gophers and was unable to recover.
Outside hitter Kelly Kinney recorded kills on three of Minnesota’s final four points of the match, stepping into a larger role in the latter two sets after starter Alex Acevedo exited the game due to injury. The Golden Gophers edged out the ’Cats 26-24 in a close fourth set to cap off a 3-1 win.
“I’m really proud of the way they responded in some tight moments and to some breaks that didn’t quite go our way,” Nollan said. “I thought we did a really nice job of just moving on to the next play and continuing to fight.”
The ’Cats travel to the East Coast this weekend for a two-match road trip, facing Rutgers on Friday and Penn State on Saturday.
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