Nov. 27, 2010

Final Stats

Final Box in PDF Format

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - In the final regular season match of the season, the Northern Illinois volleyball team lost to Marquette in four sets (25-23, 28-30, 25-20, 27-25) at Al McGuire Center on Saturday evening in the regular season finale.

Prior to the match, the Huskies had not lost any of the six four-set contests they have played in. The Golden Eagles (23-9) denied NIU its chance of totaling the program's most wins since 1993, as the Huskies end the regular season with a 27-8 record, the most victories since 1998. The win total is the highest achieved by ninth-year head coach Ray Gooden and marks his third season with 20 or more triumphs.

"For us to play 35 times this year, with a group as inexperienced as ours, pretty much going through a baptism by fire phase of development, I think the season can be called a success," Gooden said. "The unfortunate part is we moved into an area where we are so close where it can be a little bit more painful than celebratory right now [being on the fringe of making the NCAA Tournament]. But this group has done some amazing things this year. I'm really fortunate to be a part of it."

Now, the Huskies will rest on the outcome of Sunday's NCAA Tournament selection TV show that airs at 2:00 p.m. (CT) on ESPNEWS to see whether or not their historic season will continue.

In improving to 9-2 at home, Marquette fashioned a .280 hitting percentage and 68 kills, holding the Huskies down to a .195 hitting percentage and 54 kills. The Golden Eagles were also stout at the net, amassing 12 blocks to NIU's five.

"From the little information we had about Marquette, if we were able to play games for a long period of time, we had a chance to be successful," said Gooden. "We unfortunately had a few too many negative runs throughout the match. But I also thought we had some pretty positive stretches of volleyball to make the match very competitive."

Freshmen Lauren Wicinski (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) and Sarah Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) both led the Huskies with 15 kills. Wicinski added 11 digs in producing her 16th double-double. Angelos' kill total marked her highest of the season as she also had a proficient .636 attack percentage.

"Sarah had a fantastic match and a fantastic season," said Gooden. "She and [setter] Kristin [Hoffman] developed a very positive relationship this year, which I feel has the beginnings of something special for the future."

Junior setter Kristin Hoffman (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) notched her eighth double-double with 46 assists and 12 digs. Sophomore Mary Kurisch (La Crosse, Wis./West Salem) reached double figure kills for the offense as well, tallying 10. Junior outside hitter Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton) was one kill shy of a double-double, as she registered nine kills and 12 digs.

The Huskies fell behind 5-0 to start the match but fought their way back with a late rally. Down 21-16, NIU came out of a timeout with a successful slide by Kurisch and an ace by Hoffman. A wide shot down the left line by Marquette brought the Huskies within two points, 21-19. The Golden Eagles pushed ahead again to take a 24-20 lead after a block on McGlaughlin. With the help of another timeout, the Huskies rallied back. Following an MU attack error, sophomore outside hitter Meghan Romo (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) roped a ball down the middle of the court and Angelos scored on a quick set to pull with one, 24-23. But the Golden Eagles capitalized on their fourth attempt at set point, ending the set on the next sequence with a kill off an NIU block. In an otherwise even set, the main difference was NIU's seven attack errors to Marquette's five.

In a crucial second set, the Huskies found themselves down 17-11 but mounted a 9-3 run to knot the game. Romo and Wicinski each had two kills during the run. From there, the teams exchanged points until NIU flipped the momentum with the score tied 26-26. The Huskies broke the trend with help from a long attack by the Golden Eagles. After exchanging points two more times, Wicinski tied the match with a shot that MU was unable to fully control after barely digging it up. Despite being outblocked 6-0, the Huskie defense came up huge with a 16-8 digs advantage to help win the set.

Tied 7-7 in the third set, Marquette took momentum back on its side with a 10-5 run to claim a 17-12 advantage and didn't look back. MU held an 18-7 kills edge in the swing set and hit .278 to NIU's .154.

In the fourth set, NIU grabbed hold of an 18-13 lead after a huge combo block by Angelos and Wicinski, but Marquette fought its way back. With the Huskies ahead 23-19, the Golden Eagles put together a 4-0 run to tie the score, 23-23. MU then negated two set points before putting away a pair of kills to seal the match, outkilling the Huskies 19-13 in the final set.