Nov. 21, 2007

Northwestern Weekly Game Notes (PDF Format)

EVANSTON, Ill. -- With an NCAA Tournament at-large bid on the line, Northwestern returns home for its final two matches of the regular season this weekend, facing Indiana at 7 p.m. CT Friday and Purdue at 7 p.m. CT Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The Wildcats currently are tied for sixth place in the conference with the Spartans of Michigan State at 8-10, both just one match behind Michigan (9-9) and two matches behind third-place Minnesota and Purdue.

Though the historically strong Big Ten (it again ranks second among conferences in the RichKern.com RPI) usually gets 6-7 teams into the tournament, Northwestern needs a strong finish to establish itself at the head of the logjam that has formed in the middle of the league standings this year.

The Wildcats already are in the midst of a strong finish after beginning the conference season with a 1-7 mark. NU is 7-3 since then, and has turned losses to Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State in the first half of the Big Ten slate into wins during the second half.

After beginning the conference season with a 5-4 mark, Indiana has lost eight of its last nine matches to currently sit 10th in the Big Ten. With a 15-15 overall record, IU is in a struggle to finish at or above .500 for the first time since its NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002.

Purdue is sitting pretty for an NCAA at-large berth with a 17-12 overall mark and its third-place standing in the conference. The Boilermakers played a tough nonconference schedule, winning matches against Clemson and Oregon -- which currently are ranked in the top-25 -- while also taking on ranked opponents Duke, Dayton and USC.

Saturday's match with Purdue officially marks Senior Night for a quartet of Wildcats who have made significant contributions to the NU program. Lindsay Anderson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) and Courtnie Paulus (Belgium, Wis./Ozaukee) are members of the Northwestern 1,000-Kill Club, while Stephanie Jurivich (LaGrange, Ill./St. Ignatius) ranks among the Wildcats' all-time leaders in assists and Brittney Aldridge (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) is in the top-3 in NU history in career hitting percentage and block assists.

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

The Weekend

Friday, November 23
Northwestern (17-12, 8-10)
vs Indiana (15-15, 6-12)
7 p.m. CT

Saturday, November 24
Northwestern (17-12, 8-10)
vs Purdue (17-12, 10-8)
7 p.m. CT

Series Records
Indiana: Series tied, 26-26
Last Meeting: Oct. 13, 2007 (IU, 3-1)
Purdue: Purdue leads, 41-23
Last Meeting: Oct. 12, 2007 (PU, 3-1)

On The Web
Gametracker will be available at NUsports.com for both matches this weekend.