Nov. 27, 2009

Box Score

Northwestern at Minnesota Box Score

2009 Northwestern Volleyball Statistics

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Northwestern battled both injuries and 13th-ranked Minnesota, but ultimately the Wildcats dropped their regular season finale to the Gophers 19-25, 20-25, 21-25. NU closes the 2009 campaign with a 16-16 overall record and 7-13 in the Big Ten.

"The team battled tonight," said head coach Keylor Chan. "We battled through some injuries, but played hard. But overall it was a solid year this year. There are a lot of things to be proud of."

Junior Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) led the 'Cats with 11 kills and five blocks, despite suffering a sprained ankle in the opening set. Moffett continued her breakout season, finishing with 398 kills on the year and 165 blocks - the third-most in program history. Moffett leads the Big Ten in solo blocks (28) and her .349 season hitting percentage is tops in program history, surpassing Erika Lange's .343 in the 2002 season.

Senior Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) finishes her storied Northwestern career all alone in second place among the Big Ten's all-time dig leaders. Nobilio notched 12 on the night, giving her 2,194 for her career. She closed out her senior campaign with 529 digs, the fourth-best single-season total in program history as Nobilio now holds the first, third, fourth and fifth-best season dig totals in the Northwestern record books.

Junior Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) had seven kills, two service aces and a pair of blocks in her Minnesota homecoming, closing out the year with a career-best 313 kills, 108 blocks and a team-best 32 service aces. Junior Brittani Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) also posted six kills on the night, bringing her season total to 119.

Junior Elyse Glab (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) had 27 assists on the night, bringing her season total to 1,196, which is the eighth-highest season total in program history. Glab wraps up her junior campaign by becoming the fourth player in Wildcat history to record 3,500 helpers, entering her senior campaign with 3,506 career assists. Glab also closes out the 2009 campaign with 66 kills, 68 blocks and 226 digs.

Sophomore Alexandra Ayers (Playa del Rey, Calif./Marymount) led Northwestern with 14 digs on the night, finishing in a tie for third on the team with 226 for the season along with 132 kills. Senior Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Castilleja) recorded just one kill on the night before suffering a dislocated shoulder. She finished the year ranked third on the squad with a career-best 228 kills, complimented by 290 digs and 53 blocks.

Minnesota jumped out to the early lead in all three sets on the night, building at least a six point lead on Northwestern in each. But playing to keep its postseason hopes alive, the Wildcats would rally back in every tilt, only to come up just short against the nation's 13th-ranked team.

Lauren Gibbemeyer and Tabitha Love each recorded 13 kills for Minnesota, who clinched third-place in the Big Ten with the victory. Gibbemeyer also led all players with eight blocks on the night, with Taylor Carico adding 31 assists and Christine Tan notching 21 digs.

With Wisconsin and Michigan State both losing on Friday night, Northwestern guaranteed itself no worse than a tie for sixth-place in the Big Ten. The Wildcats doubled the amount of total wins from 2008 (eight to 16) and moved up five spots in the conference standings after an 11th-place finish last season.

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