EVANSTON, Ill. --  Junior Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) recorded her second career double-double, knocking down 17 kills and tying a career-best with 10 blocks, and junior Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) added 17 kills as well as Northwestern rallied past Michigan State 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats notch their third-straight Big Ten Conference victory, improving to 14-11 on the year and 5-8 in Big Ten play.

Moffett's nine block assists on the evening propelled her into ninth-place all-time in program history with 251 career block assists.
She also had just five attack errors on 36 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Johnson did one better, finishing with no errors on 25 attempts for a career-best .680 hitting percentage, while also tying her personal-high with seven blocks on the night.

Northwestern's defensive play at the net proved to be the deciding factor, as the Wildcats held an 18-5 block advantage over the Spartans.
In addition to the big nights from the Moffett-Johnson middle blocking tandem, redshirt freshman Kathryn Chrystal (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) finished with six blocks, with junior Elyse Glab (Chicago,
Ill./Resurrection) adding five and junior Brittani Gray (Cincinnati,
Ohio/Sycamore) rejected four Michigan State attacks.

Gray also finished with seven kills on the night, followed by six from senior Ariel Baxterbeck (Menlo Park, Calif./Chapparal). Glab dished out
46 assists on the night to go along with her three kills and senior Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) had 20 digs and a kill of her own for the 'Cats.

Coming off a pair of thrilling five-set road victories over Purdue and Indiana last weekend, Northwestern held the early lead over Michigan State (16-9, 4-9 Big Ten) in the opening set, only to see the Spartans use a 6-1 run to break out to a 13-8 lead. The Wildcats were able to cut the gap to one at 18-17, but couldn't get any closer as Michigan State took set one 25-20.

The Spartans appeared to be in control of the match early in the second set as well, building a five-point cushion over the 'Cats at 15-10. But Northwestern found that confidence it had gained the previous weekend and slowly chipped away at the Michigan State advantage, tying the match at 22. The Spartans looked poised to reclaim the lead, but Nobilio, who was just trying to keep the set alive, heaved a desperation shot over the net which floated just past the Michigan State attack, giving Northwestern the lead at 23-22. A block from Glab and a kill from Moffett closed out the set and turned momentum back in Northwestern's favor.

The Wildcats carried that momentum into the third set, notching the first point of the set and never looking back. Northwestern would lead by as many as eight at 16-9 before Michigan State staged a 5-0 rally to pull to within a pair at 16-14. But the 'Cats outscored the Spartans 9-4 down the stretch for the 25-18 third set victory.

With only 25 points separating itself from victory, Northwestern came out energized in set four, tallying the set's first four points.
Michigan State would rally again, tying the set at 10, only to see NU respond with an 8-3 run of its own. The Spartans would stage one final rally, pulling to within two a handful of times, but kills from Gray and Moffett would ensure the Wildcat victory.

The three match Big Ten winning streak is the first for Northwestern since the 2007 season as the Wildcats earn a season split with the Spartans for the fourth consecutive year. NU also extends its lead in the overall series with Michigan State, holding a 32-26 advantage.

Megan Schatzle led the Spartans with 15 kills, while Kyndra Abron and Mischelle Nelson each added 11 for Michigan State. Natalie Emro had a match-high 47 assists while Allyson Karaba tied Nobilio with 20 digs on the night.