Sept. 24, 2010

Final Stats

Final Box

DeKALB, Ill. - In its first Mid-American Conference match of the season, the Northern Illinois volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to Ball State on Friday night at Victor E. Court, 25-20, 18-25, 17-25, 25-23, 16-14.

"I give a lot of credit to [Ball State head coach] Steve Shondell's team tonight for forcing us into a lot of uncomfortable situations," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "I thought that when we took care of the ball, we made a lot of really good plays."

Up 2-1 in the match, the Huskies (14-2, 0-1 MAC) held a 23-21 lead in the fourth set and were looking to close it out for the win. However, after a Ball State (11-2, 1-0 MAC) timeout, the Cardinals scored on a kill and consecutive ball handling errors on set attempts by freshmen middle blocker Sarah Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) and outside hitter Lauren Wicinski (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) turned the tables. Out of an NIU timeout, Wicinski's attack attempt didn't find the BSU court, forcing a fifth set.

"Our first contact wasn't as good as it needed to be [on the two errors], which led to a poor second contact and momentum for Ball State," Gooden said.

In the decisive set, the Cardinals took an 8-7 lead at the switch and would hold a two-point advantage until NIU knotted the score at 12-12. The consecutive points came on a Wicinski kill and a block by the sophomore duo of middle blocker Mary Kurisch (LaCrosse, Wis./LaCrosse) and outside hitter Meghan Romo (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso). Following a Cardinal timeout, junior setter Kristin Hoffman (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) served up an ace to put the Huskies two points away from victory. Ball State responded with a kill and block to regain the lead, 14-13. Romo answered with a putaway, but it would be the last point scored for NIU as Ball State scored on a kill and unsuccessful swing by junior outside hitter Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton).

"This match tonight helped show a couple of things," said Gooden. "First, MAC matches will be wars from beginning to end each and every night. Second, you need variety and consistency to be successful."

NIU held a 10-5 lead in the opening stanza, but BSU flipped the set with a 20-10 run. The Huskies then opened the second set with an 8-2 run and held a steady lead for an easy seven-point win. NIU did the same in the third set, jumping out to a 12-4 lead to cruise to an eight-point victory before losing the gut wrenching fourth and fifth sets.

Both teams played a little sloppy as Ball State had 27 attack errors and nine serve errors, while NIU had 19 attack errors and 10 serve errors. The Cardinals held advantages in kills (64-59) and digs (80-71). The Huskies owned an edge in aces (9-5) and blocks (9-5), but it was BSU's ability to score the crucial points in the final two sets that led to the win.

Despite the last two sets ending on their swings, Wicinski and McGlaughlin carried the Huskies as both posted double-doubles. Wicinski racked up a season-high 28 kills along with 11 digs for her seventh double-double. She also added three blocks and two aces. McGlaughlin notched 14 kills, the highest total in her last 12 matches, and a season-best 13 digs. Hoffman also netted a double-double with 52 assists and 12 digs, while also totaling three aces and two kills.

Defensively, senior Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill./North) tallied 18 digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Sue Hayes (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mother McAuley) reached double-figures as well with 10 digs.

The Huskies continue their seven-match home stand with a 7 p.m. CT contest against Toledo (5-7) tomorrow.