Senior night did not prove so ceremonious after a loss to Rutgers.
Northwestern’s volleyball team had their final home stretch of the season with two games at Welsh-Ryan Arena over the past week. This was the team’s last chance to make a statement in front of the Evanston faithful this season, especially for the squad’s four graduating seniors.
The ‘Cats was on a bit of a skid entering the Thursday night matchup with #21 USC, having had a tough time on the last week’s west coast roadtrip marred by losses to #11 Oregon in four sets and unranked Washington in three.
Though some believed that the return home would help the ‘Cats, the home stand remained unsuccessful, as Tim Nollan’s squad fell in four sets to the Trojans.
As has been the case for NU all season, the first set was not finished at 25, as USC ended up taking it 26-24. The Cats stormed back in the second set, tying the match with 25-21 win. However, the team quickly deflated after that victory, dropping the third and fourth sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-16 respectively.
Alex Rousseau netted six kills to go along with 19 assists, and she was also dynamite at the service line with 3 service aces. Buse Hazan led NU in kills with 11, but the team ultimately struggled with efficiency on their attacks in the face of a strong USC defense. The Northwestern defense was ultimately peppered by shots from Outside Hitter Ally Batenhorst and Opposite Hitter Adonia Faumuina. The two combined for 42 of USC’s 61 total kills.
Before Northwestern’s Saturday night face-off with the Scarlet Knights, Rutgers honored its two seniors, MB Ece Emrullah, and OH Alissa Kinkela, and sent them off in style.
This Rutgers team entered the match on a 17-game losing streak, having not won a Big Ten game since the prior year. However, Caitlin Schweihofer’s squad came out swinging.
Northwestern took a narrow first set against the Scarlet Knights by a score of 25-23, with neither team leading by more than 4 points for the entirety of the set. The set was sealed with a Sophia Summers kill.
The match took a brutal turn in the second set, however; as Kennedy Hill was taken off the floor with a lower-body injury. She did not return to the game, and the lack of her presence at the net was certainly felt as the game went on. The second set ended in celebration for Rutgers, as they took it by a score of 25-17.
The third set of this matchup saw three lead changes early on, but Rutgers pulled ahead as the set progressed. As the conclusion was in sight, however; the Cats stormed back with three straight points, including a clutch Buse Hazan service ace, to knot the set at 23. But just as the ‘Cats was finally fought even, Rutgers regained control and put an exclamation point on the set with an Avery Jesewitz kill.
The fourth set felt out of reach for NU from the start, with Rutgers hopping out to a 10-4 lead. The ‘Cats attempted to make up ground, but before they knew it, were staring at a 20-11 deficit. Despite a strong late-game effort, including Northwestern taking 12 of the next 16 points to reach a 24-23 game, Rutgers closed out their victory with a block assist by Natalie Robinson and Anna Hartman.
It was clear that this game was decided at the net, with Rutgers setting a season-high 16 blocks to just four from Northwestern. With Kennedy Hill entering the night seventh in the Big Ten in blocks, it was clear just how much her presence was missed after an unfortunate early exit.
At the game’s conclusion, Northwestern honored its four seniors, Graduate Students Alexa Rousseau, Sophia Summers, and Sara Griffith, as well as Senior Ariel Amaya, who started her first career match in honor of the occasion. Redshirt-Sophomore Sienna Noordemeer will also be graduating, but she retains two additional years of eligibility.