The win marked the first on record for the Blue Demons over the Wildcats since 1980.
Set scores for the match were 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 15-25, 19-17.
DePaul (6-5) saw three Blue Demons finish with double-digit kills. Sophomore Hanna Karl led the way with a career-high 17 kills while Bailey Nelson posted 14 kills at a .344 clip. In four sets of action, Jill Pressly posted her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs.
Aly Kindelberger commanded the net with a total of six blocks, including three solo. Rachel Krasowski was a vacuum in the back row once again with a match-high 20 digs.
Setters Ashley Cudiamat and Molly Murrihy orchestrated the offense with 27 and 22 assists, respectively. The duo combined for 14 digs with Murrihy serving up the match-winning ace.
Temi Thomas-Aliara led the Wildcats with 20 kills while middle blocker Leilani Dodson posted 16 kills and three blocks.
How it Happened:
Set One – DePaul broke open a 10-5 lead in the first set in part due to seven early Wildcats errors. The Blue Demons extended their advantage to 15-9 after three Karl kills in four points. Northwestern came within three at 18-15 after a pair of DePaul errors, but the Blue Demons answered right back with Karl's fifth kill of the afternoon. The Wildcats went on a 4-0 run late in the first set after a trio of Blue Demon attack errors allowed Northwestern to come within two (21-19) and force a Zidek timeout. Out of the break, DePaul won four of the next six points to take a 1-0 lead.
Set Two -- Northwestern jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the second after early attack errors plagued the Blue Demons. DePaul cut the deficit to two at 13-11 with a Nelson and Brown block. Avery Horejsi dropped in an ace to come within one (15-14) before the Wildcats rattled off three in a row. Out of the timeout, Karl put down consecutive kills to keep DePaul within reach before Northwestern went on to win the second set 25-21 and even the match at one.
Set Three – An early 6-2 advantage for the Wildcats forced a DePaul timeout. The Blue Demons went on an 8-1 run in the middle of the third set to take a 14-11 lead. Jill Pressly provided a spark off the bench with a pair of kills along with a service ace while Karl proved to be dominant at the net with two solo blocks in the run. Consecutive kills from the Wildcats cut the advantage to two at 16-14. A pair of Karl kills combined with a pair of Northwestern errors gave DePaul the set 25-20.
Set Four – Northwestern answered right back in the fourth with an early 12-4 advantage. The Wildcats expanded their advantage to 19-9 before a successful DePaul challenge jumpstarted a 5-1 run for the Blue Demons to cut into the deficit at 18-12. The Wildcats took the fourth set, 25-15 after winning seven of the last nine points in the fourth.
Set Five – Set five was a back-and-forth affair with both sides trading points. The Blue Demons took a two-point advantage at 7-5 after a Nelson kill, Karl kill and a solo block from Donna Brown. The Wildcats answered out of the timeout and knotted the match at nine apiece on a Blue Demons error. Out of the DePaul timeout, Pressly hammered home a kill and the Wildcats committed an attack error to give the Blue Demons an 11-9 lead. DePaul fended off a pair of Northwestern match points on kills from Nelson and Price on the right side, before the Blue Demons had match point of their own after a Pressly termination. A Kindelberger solo block and a Murrihy service ace sealed the deal for the Blue Demons and g
From Head Coach Marie Zidek: What a finish for this team. A big theme for us this weekend was to heat up at turning points. Northwestern did a great job of heating up their pins in that 4th and 5th set. The difference today between a win and a loss was the mentality and execution of us absorbing that heat to create opportunities of our own to score. We continued to be the agressor even though Temi probably had the most impressive swing on the match. What a great battle for both of our squads.
Up Next: The Blue Demons will close out action at the Chicago Cup on Saturday evening with a 5:30 p.m. meeting with UIC. Fans can follow the action on BTN+ for a fee.
For all of the latest on DePaul Women's Volleyball, stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
DePaul Defeats Northwestern In Five-Set Thriller - DePaul Blue Demons
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment