Oct. 24, 2008

Final Stats

Ohio 3, NIU 0 Final Box

Athens, Ohio - The Northern Illinois volleyball team fell to Ohio in three sets, 20-25, 14-25, 15-25, on Friday evening in a Mid-American Conference competition at the Convocation Center as the Bobcats (14-6, 7-2) outscored the Huskies (13-10, 5-4) 67.5 to 32.

"Ohio was just the better team tonight in all phases," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden.

The Bobcats were able to get early leads and use them to their advantage throughout the match as they outhit NIU .398 to .117 and registered 10.5 blocks to NIU's two.

"Ohio has been known for complete tempo control and that's what they showed again tonight," Gooden said.

In the first set, Ohio established an early 8-3 lead after a kill from Ellen Herman that increased to a 16-8 advantage. The Huskies did pull within a point, 21-20, after Amanda Andersen's attack error capped a NIU 4-1 run, but the Bobcats ran off four straight points to end the first set.

In the second set, Ohio opened up a 17-9 lead after a 12-4 run that was capped by a block from Andersen and Jane Sytsma. The Bobcats were then able to take a 2-0 lead into the break after they finished the set, 25-14.

Ohio jumped out to a 10-5 lead in set three after a Huskie error and the Bobcats rode the momentum to a 25-15 win to take the match.

Freshman Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton) led NIU with 13 kills. Junior Meagan Schoenrock (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) tallied eight kills, which put an end to her 24-match streak with 10 or more kills. Freshman Kristin Hoffman (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) notched 26 assists and sophomore Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill./North) recorded 12 digs for the NIU defense.

"I thought Allison and Maddie played solid matches for us tonight," said Gooden.

The Huskies travel to Kent, Ohio tomorrow to take on Kent State (13-8, 3-5) at 4 p.m. CST.