Volleyball Upsets No. 24 Pepperdine in Dominating Fashion

SEATTLE – The Northwestern volleyball team was firing on all cylinders as it dominated No. 24 Pepperdine 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-16), Friday evening at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Wildcats continued their torrid start to the season, improving to 8-1, and recording their first win over a ranked opponent since 2019 (No. 24 Illinois).

As a team NU, hit a blistering .396 and recorded 55 kills. The Wildcats were led by a double-double from Hanna Lesiak, who registered 12 kills and 12 digs on the day. Temi Thomas-Ailara also added 15 kills while hitting .387 to help the attack. On the defensive end, Megan Miller was all over the floor, tallying a career-high 27 digs. Defensively, Northwestern posted a whopping 63 digs in the three set contest. The ‘Cats held the Waves (7-2) to a .184 hitting percentage, just one week after they beat then-No. 9 Baylor 3-1.

‘Cats came HUNGRY, upset No. 24 Pepperdine in three ??@NCAAVolleyball | #GoCats pic.twitter.com/yKWjIGRjlP

— Northwestern Volleyball (@NUVball) September 10, 2022

Game Notes

» Hanna Lesiak registered a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs

» Temi Thomas-Ailara had a match-high 15 kills for Northwestern.

» Northwestern got a match-high 27 digs from Megan Miller.

» Northwestern attackers were helped by a season and match-high 42 assists from Alexa Rousseau.

» The Wildcats won a match over a ranked opponent away from Welsh-Ryan Arena for the first time since taking down No. 20 Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. in 2013.

HANNA LESIAK ACE FOR THE SWEEP ??#GoCats pic.twitter.com/LondD4AY0B

— Northwestern Volleyball (@NUVball) September 10, 2022

How It Happened

SET 1 | The Wildcats grabbed control of the set at 4-3 and never trailed to win 25-19. Northwestern led by as many as nine points at 21-12 before closing out the set, collecting 18 kills in the set. NU got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Pepperdine attacks in the stanza.

SET 2 | Northwestern carried momentum from a set-one win by securing a 25-15 victory in the second set. The Wildcats grabbed the set propelled by a strong performance on the attacking side. Northwestern registered a .483 attack percentage with 18 kills in the set win. The Wildcats ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out…