Oct. 28, 2006

Box Score

DeKalb, Ill. - When things are clicking, for the Northern Illinois volleyball team, not much stands in the way of the Huskies.

The University of Toledo found out first hand on Saturday evening, as NIU, behind a combined 31 kills from Kate McCullagh (Woodstock, Ill.) and Meagan Schoenrock (Sylvania, Ohio), rolled to the 30-23, 30-24, 30-18 Mid-American Conference victory over the Rockets at Victor E. Court on Saturday night.

McCullagh tallied a match-high 17 kills, and finished with a hitting percentage of .438 (17 kills, 3 errors, 32 attacks), while Schoenrock added 14 kills and hit at a clip of .462 (14 kills, 2 errors, 26 attacks).

"We did a good job defending our home court," NIU head coach Ray Gooden said. "We served well, we attacked well and we touched the ball a lot better at the net."

With the victory, NIU improves to 17-7 overall and 10-2 in MAC play, while the visiting Rockets fall to 6-19 on the season and 3-9 in conference action.

The Huskies were solid defensively as they accumulated many touches on Toledo attacks and out-dug the Rockets, 53-41. NIU senior libero Gina Guide (Orland Park, Ill.) led the charge with a match-high 21 digs, while teammate Mandi Caputo (Chicago, Ill.) added a match-high 38 assists.

Toledo junior Emi Holsclaw collected 15 kills to lead the Rockets.

NIU is back in action on Thursday, November 2, as they welcome Western Michigan for a 7 p.m. first serve at Victor E. Court.

--NIU--