Nov. 14, 2007

Northwestern's Weekly Game Notes

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern takes to the road this weekend for its final matches away from Welsh-Ryan Arena, facing Iowa at 7 p.m. CT Friday before traveling up to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota at 7 p.m. CT Saturday evening.

The Wildcats enter the final four matches on the schedule in the thick of the hunt for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth, but still have some work left to do. After starting the Big Ten season 1-7, NU defeated then-No. 13 Minnesota and Iowa at home Oct. 19-20. Since those wins, the 'Cats are 6-2 in their last eight outings, and are one game out of third place in the conference standings with a 7-9 mark.

NU's two losses during its eight-match resurgence have come against top-10 ranked foes: No. 1 Penn State and No. 7 Wisconsin.

At the very least, NU and its 16-11 overall record have clinched a winning season for the fourth time in eight years under Keylor Chan. Prior to Chan's arrival in 2000, the 'Cats had not had an above .500 campaign since 1990.

In the ultra-competitive Big Ten, Iowa is the only team not still chasing a potential berth in the NCAA Tournament's 64-team field. Since defeating then-No. 11 Michigan on Sept. 28, the Hawkeyes have dropped 12-straight matches, not winning a single game in the last eight.

Perennial Big Ten power Minnesota has had a conference season very similar to Northwestern's. After beginning the Big Ten 5-0, the Gophers hit a seven-match slide before recovering to enter this weekend in third place in the league with an 8-8 record.

Northwestern expects a boost this weekend with the return of sophomore libero Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg), who missed last weekend's matches with an injury. Sophomore Emma Pollert (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) filled in admirably in her absence, recording a career-best 27 digs in NU's four-game win over Ohio State Saturday.

For Northwestern's complete game notes package for the upcoming weekend, click on the .pdf link at the top of this page.

The Weekend

Friday, November 16
Northwestern (16-11, 7-9) at Iowa (9-18, 1-15)
7 p.m. CT

Saturday, November 17
Northwestern (16-11, 7-9) at Minnesota (15-11, 8-8)
7 p.m. CT

Series Records
Iowa: Northwestern leads, 32-23-1
Last Meeting: Oct. 20, 2007 (NU, 3-0)
Minnesota: Minnesota leads, 38-16
Last Meeting: Oct. 19, 2007 (NU, 3-2)

On The Web
Gametracker will be available for Friday's match at Iowa on NUsports.com, but will NOT be available for Saturday's match at Minnesota. The Gophers use a different live stats system, which only is available on their Web site, gophersports.com.