The Wildcats continue to struggle as they had another 0-2 weekend.
The ‘Cats entered the week on a four-game losing streak; after losing both on the road this weekend, they brought that to six. Not only is it six straight losses, but it’s six disastrous conference losses.
The Wildcats started the weekend in College Park, Pennsylvania, where they played No. 18 Penn State. Some players had stellar performances, including Campbell Paris leading the team with eight kills, freshman Maya Stiwall with seven of her own and Ellie Stiernagle with 25 assists. Yet these efforts were not enough for the ‘Cats to win a single set, as they went 0-3 on Friday (18-25, 17-25, 19-25)
Through the first set of the game, the ‘Cats took the lead first as Mara Štiglic put them up with an opening kill and a 4-0 run; however, that would be the only lead they would hold in the first set. The Nittany Lions came to play; the team hit .469 on 18 total kills, with Kendall Northern leading with five kills. The ‘Cats went down by a set immediately.
The second set brought the same electricity and power as the first. Penn State jumped out to a 7-3 lead, yet the ‘Cats were ready to battle, as they bounced back and brought the set back to a tie as Bella Bullington had four straight kills. This gave the ‘Cats a huge wave of momentum and put them right back in the game. That momentum didn’t last long, as NU fell behind 15-11 by the media timeout, and never regained the lead.
The same opening momentum the Nittany Lions had in the first two sets also showed up in the final set, as they came out hot with an 18-9 lead. As they looked to pull away and take the sweep, the Wildcats mounted a comeback of their own, winning eight straight points and putting them one behind Penn State. This, unfortunately, was not enough to surge the ‘Cats past as Penn State dealt the final blow via a 5-0 run to take the set.
The Wildcats looked to turn the loss around heading into Saturday as they played another Big Ten opponent in Maryland. The match was electric in all aspects as it went the full five sets. The Wildcats had two hitters reach 20 kills: Štiglic recorded her third 20-kill match of the season, and Bullington led the team with 22. The last time NU had two hitters with 20-plus kills was in 2017, almost 10 years ago. Along with those records, the ‘Cats also had a season high of single-match aces with 11 and blocks with 13.
Through all of this, the ‘Cats still came up short, losing three sets to two (19-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-17, 17-19).
In the first set, the ‘Cats were down 4-0 early but didn’t let that stop them from going on a six-point run and taking the lead. The set went back and forth for a while until Maryland pulled away to lead 18-15. Maryland capitalized on a few Northwestern errors to win the set 25-19.
Though they made errors, the Wildcats played almost evenly with the Terrapins, and that mindset led to the set-two victory, 25-18. After a 4-1 start, Štiglic and Paris led the way with their kills to put the ‘Cats up 16-10. After a subtle Maryland comeback, Štiglic’s kills put them up 24-16, one point away from the win. Bullington closed out the set for the ‘Cats and got them even with the Terrapins.
The third and fourth sets played out like the first two: Maryland took the third, and the Wildcats took the fourth. The Terrapins dominated the third set; however, the fourth set was a back-and-forth rally until Maryland made an error that let Northwestern go up 20-16. Paris led the fourth set with seven kills and 11 swings. The ‘Cats finished with a 4-0 run to win the set.
In the final set of the match, the one that decides it all, it was a back-and-forth battle. Northwestern took three of the first four points; however, Maryland came back to tie it at four. Then there were ties at five and six points before the ‘Cats went up 8-6. Štiglic brought the ‘Cats within match point, 14-11, before a last-second comeback by the Terrapins forced extra points. Maryland squeaked out a 19-17 win, breaking the Wildcats’ hearts in comeback fashion.
Though NU lost both matches this weekend, they showed in the second match that they can hang with Big Ten opponents and battle for points.