OXFORD, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team saw its 2018 season come to a close Thursday night with a 3-0 (15-25, 14-25, 30-32) loss to the Ohio Bobcats in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship at Millett Hall.
 
"Everytime we've had a first time with this group it's been a learning experience," said head coach Ray Gooden. "This was the first time for half of our team at the MAC Tournament. There's an intensity and desperation that comes out at this time of year."
 
NIU (11-21) was led on offense by Meg Wolowicz's (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) eight kills. Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) had six kills and six digs. Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) and Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) led NIU with four blocks each, while Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) had 16 digs.
 
Ohio (13-17) came out of the gates firing, taking the first six points of the match as a pair of Jaime Kosiorek kills bookended that opening stretch. A pair of Milbrath kills got NIU on the board as the Huskies got an Ohio error to cut the deficit in half, 6-3. The Huskies were within two at 7-5 when the Bobcats went on a 7-1 run to take a 14-6 lead on a block by Simone Miller and Stephanie Olman. NIU only got as close as seven points the rest of the way. Ohio took the set 25-15, hitting .333 with four blocks. The Bobcats used runs of 6-2 and 8-2 in the second set to take a 17-8 lead. NIU hit a -.107 in the second as Ohio jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a 25-14 win in the set.
 
NIU battled with Ohio to start the third, playing to a 6-6 tie. The Bobcats won the next three points as a Kosiorek kill and Macy Reihing ace put Ohio ahead 9-6. The Huskies came back with a block by Milbrath and McAlpin and a Wolowicz ace to get within one at 9-8, and eventually tied the set at 11. With the set tied at 15, kills by Kosiorek and Tia Jimerson started a 6-1 Ohio run that put the Bobcats ahead 21-16. The Bobcats earned match point at 24-20 on a Lizzie Stephens kill. NIU fought off one match point with a Wolowicz kill, then won the next three points on the serve on Autumn Martin (Tyrone, Ga./FIU) to tie the set at 24.
 
The Huskies took their first lead of the match at 25-24 on an Ohio error, but the Bobcats came back to tie the set at 25 on an Olman kill. NIU had three more match points, but kills by Kosiorek and Stephens tied the set at 29. Ohio won the set 32-30 on back-to-back kills by Stephens and Olman to win the match 3-0.
 
"We handled Ohio better in the third set," Gooden said. "We kept battling and just needed a break. Autumn came in and did whatever was necessary for us to get back in the set. We didn't play the score. We just went point by point and things started to go our way. At the end, they made a play and that's unfortunate because we could have played better. We know we're capable of playing better, but credit to Ohio. They did a nice job."
 
The Huskies finished the 2018 campaign with an 11-21 record.
 
--NIU--