Sept. 18, 2014
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)
Scores: Northwestern 3, Ohio 2 (26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 17-15)
Tournament: Wildcat Challenge
Location: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Records: Ohio 6-4, Northwestern 9-1
THE BASICS
• Ohio's five-match winning streak ended with a 3-2 loss to Northwestern in the opening match of the Wildcat Challenge.
• The Bobcats rattled off seven unanswered points to force a fifth set and held match point twice in the decisive set, but the Wildcats responded with three straight points to secure the victory.
• Ohio lost despite posting a season-high 68 kills, 14 total team blocks -- one off from its season high -- and outhitting Northwestern, .247-.217.
• Senior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti (Cary, Ill.) led the match with 23 kills -- one off her career high. She also added 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season and 54th of her career as well as three assisted blocks.
• Freshman outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) tallied a career-high 21 kills, marking the fifth time this season she has posted double-digit kills.
• Junior middle blocker/outside hitter Shelby Walker (Bradenton, Fla.), redshirt senior middle blocker/outside hitter Hannah Burkle (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and junior middle blocker Karin Bull (Bloomington, Minn.) keyed Ohio's solid blocking effort. Walker (one solo, eight assisted) and Burkle (nine assisted) each compiled a match-high nine total blocks to set career highs. Bull contributed five assisted blocks. Burkle also posted nine kills while Walker and Bull added five apiece.
• Junior setter Abby Gilleland (Bull Valley, Ill.) led Ohio with a season-high 54 assists, marking the first time in 2014 she has cracked the 50-assist mark.
• Junior libero Meredith Ashy (Louisville, Ky.) tallied a team-high 20 digs, marking the fourth time this season she has recorded at least 20 digs.
• Three Wildcats posted double-digit kills to lead the way for Northwestern, including senior outside hitter Yewande Akanbi (21), freshman outside hitter Symone Abbott (17) and sophomore right side hitter/outside hitter Kayla Morin (10). Morin recorded a double-double with 16 digs and added a team-high eight total blocks (three solo, five assisted).
• Sophomore setter Caleigh Ryan led the match with 61 assists for Northwestern. Redshirt junior defensive specialist/libero Caroline Niedospial compiled a match-high 25 digs. Senior outside hitter Monica McGreal recorded a match-high three service aces.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Northwestern took a back-and-forth first set, 26-24, to take a 1-0 match lead, but Ohio used five kills by Lamberti, three by Kosiorek and double blocks by Burkle and Walker and Burkle and Bull to build a 20-12 advantage in the second set. The Wildcats responded with a 9-2 run to cut the Bobcat edge to 22-21, but Ohio tied the match up courtesy of a double block by Gilleland and Walker and back-to-back attack errors by Northwestern.
• The Wildcats built up a 17-10 lead in the third set, but Ohio trimmed that edge down to one twice before Northwestern pulled away with a 4-1 run to close the set and grab a 2-1 match lead.
• The Bobcats broke away in a hotly contested fourth set that featured six lead changes by overcoming a 20-18 deficit with a 7-0 run to force a fifth set. Ohio's final charge in the fourth set was highlighted by two kills by Kosiorek, one by Burkle and a double block by Burkle and Walker.
• Northwestern built up an 11-9 lead in the decisive fifth set, forcing Ohio to burn a timeout. A double block by Burkle and Walker and an attack error by the Wildcats evened the score, but Northwestern scored two of the next three points to take a 13-12 lead. Ohio responded with a kill by Lamberti to tie it, then took advantage of a Wildcat attack error to take match point at 14-13. A kill by Abbott kept Northwestern alive, but Ohio answered right back with a kill from Lamberti to make it 15-14 in favor of the Bobcats. Unfortunately for Ohio, the Wildcats retaliated with back-to-back kills by Akanbi and won the match on an Ohio attack error.
QUOTABLE
• "In several of the sets, one team got out to the lead, the other team almost caught them or did catch them. It's great to play in those matches. I hate we let this one slip away. We had a chance in six days to beat two Big Ten teams. We had those chances tonight, and it's tough, when you get that close and have a couple of match points, to not close the deal. Give credit to Northwestern. They won a lot of big points tonight that they needed to win, and it's something that we'll learn from and go forward." - First-year Ohio head coach Deane Webb
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio pushed Northwestern, which received votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, to five sets for the first time since the Wildcats defeated, Colorado, 3-2, in their 2014 season opener on Aug. 29 in the NIU Invitational.
WHAT'S NEXT
Ohio looks to wrap up its final regular season tournament of the 2014 season on a high note on Friday (Sept. 19), taking on Green Bay in its final match of the Wildcat Challenge. Action is slated to get underway at 5:30 p.m. ET.
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