Sept. 18, 2007

Final Stats

DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois volleyball team was unable to hold off UW-Milwaukee's late charge, losing 30-28, 30-28, 26-30, 24-30, 11-15. The Huskies are now 6-8 in 2007, while the Panthers gather their 11th win in a row and improve to 11-1.

The Huskies found themselves up 2-0 against a hot team riding a 10 game winning streak, but Panthers' seniors Jamie Gabrielsen and Leanne Felsing wouldn't let UW-Milwaukee fail, rallying the Panthers to win the last four games and taking the match.

"The learning from the match is that we played with a lot more energy and passion tonight," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "That part was fun. Even though, statistically, after two games we were getting beaten, we were getting the right points. UW-Milwaukee has been down 0-2 before and their seniors just didn't want to lose."

Felsing led the way for the Panthers, adding 20 kills, 36 assists and 19 digs. Gabrielsen notched 27 kills and 20 digs to help UW-Milwaukee edge NIU.

For the Huskies, sophomore Meagan Schoenrock (Sylvania, Ohio / Northview) tallied a career-high 24 kills. Freshman Dani D'Ambrose (Addison, Ill. / Addison Trail) posted her first career double-double, adding 14 kills and 17 digs. Senior Mandi Caputo (Chicago, Ill. / Immaculate Heart of Mary / DePaul) also had double-double with 46 assists and 14 digs. The leader in digs for NIU was freshman Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill. / North) with 23.

"We have to play like that, at all, to win matches in the MAC," Gooden said. "We have to play with that kind of energy and be able to finish it. If we can, we will have a successful MAC season. But we have to play at that level all the time in order to compete in our conference."

The Huskies start MAC competition this Thursday, September 20 when NIU matches-up against Western Michigan at 7 p.m. in Kalamazoo,Mich.

-NIU