Final Stats

MUNCIE, Indiana - The NIU volleyball team dropped its first Mid-American Conference match of the season Friday night as the Huskies (6-9, 2-1 MAC) fell to Ball State (9-8, 3-0 MAC) at Worthen Arena, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21.

Junior T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) finished with 18 kills, hitting .311 in the match. The reigning MAC West Offensive Player of the Week also accrued three service aces, seven digs, one assist and one block assisted.

“I thought we passed and received well tonight. (T’ara) had another positive night offensively and it was good to see that from her again,” said Head Coach Ray Gooden. “It’s tough to get wins on the road in the Mid-American Conference and Ball State is a well-coached, good volleyball team. There’s a lesson to be learned from playing on the road and we want to apply what we learned tomorrow at Toledo.”

Ball State took charge in the first set, taking a seven point lead in the opening frame, 15-7, at the media break as the Cardinals hit .643 halfway through the stanza. With BSU serving for match point and down by nine points, the Huskies rallied back to within five points but fell to BSU in the set, 25-19.

NIU controlled the second-set, owning a 17-14 lead late in the frame. A 4-0 rally by the Cardinals gave Ball State the lead in the set and a 14-3 rally would put the Huskies in a 2-0 deficit at intermission, 25-21.

Austin accrued 10 kills in the first two stanzas, recording five kills in each frame, while hitting .222 to pace the Huskies at the break.

In the final set, Northern Illinois University recorded its strongest offensive output as it totaled 14 kills, eight of which came from Austin in 18 total attacks (.444). Though the Huskies forced the Cardinals into their lowest hitting percentage of the match, .317, BSU outhit NIU in the third frame as they recorded 17 kills. The Huskies fell in the third set, 25-21

Austin led all attackers in the match with 18 kills, followed by Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) who finished with nine kills and two assisted blocks.

The Cardinals closed the match with a hitting percentage of .370 and 51 kills (17.00 kills/set). Ellie Dunn, Brooklyn Goodsel and Kelly Hopkins all posted 10-or-more kills with Dunn leading the Cardinals with 12 kills.

NIU will close the weekend tomorrow afternoon, taking on Toledo (3-13, 0-3 MAC) at Savage Arena. First serve is set for 4 p.m. Central. The match will be aired live on ESPN3.