DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team dropped its fourth consecutive match Saturday night in a 3-0 (24-26, 21-25, 22-25) loss to the Ball State Cardinals at Victor E. Court on Senior Night.
 
Senior Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy) set a new career-high in kills for the second night in a row, putting down a team-high 15 while hitting a career-high .603. Fellow senior Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) had six digs, an ace, and a kill.
 
"Our seniors competed and did a good job tonight," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Brinley put two good nights together this weekend and that was a real positive for her. I thought Amanda's serve was good. She's doing a real good job for the role she's in. We appreciate their leadership and I thought they did a good job battling tonight."
 
Ball State (15-11, 9-5 MAC) got out to a 5-2 lead in the first set behind back-to-back aces from Anna Jensen to start the night. NIU battled back to tie the set at 10-10 on a block by Milbrath and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and eventually took a 14-13 on a Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) kill. Ball State then won the next six points to take a 19-14 lead on kills by Natalie Risi and Sydnee VanBeek. The Cardinals led 23-20 when two Milbrath kills and a Huskie block got NIU even at 23 and forced a Ball State timeout. NIU fought off one set point to make the score 24-24, but a Risi kill and a Huskie error gave the Cardinals the opening set 26-24.
 
NIU (8-20, 5-9 MAC) used a 7-1 run in the second set, capped off by a pair of Milbrath kills, to go ahead 9-5. Ball State then got a Marie Plitt kill to start an 8-1 run that put the Cardinals ahead 13-10. The visitors' lead grew to five at 20-15 following a Risi ace and a Kia Holder kill. NIU won the next three points to get back within two at 20-18. After a Tilly kill put the Huskies within two once again at 23-21, Ball State got a kill from Plitt and a block to win the set 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Cardinals took advantage of a pair of Risi kills to start the third set with a 4-1 lead. Ball State went on a 5-2 run later in the set to extend its lead to five at 14-9. NIU cut the deficit to three at 15-12 with a block, but the Cardinals won the next four points to take a seven-point lead 19-12. Sparked by a Milbrath kill, NIU went on an 8-2 run to get within one at 21-20 on a Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) kill. That was as close as the Huskies got. Ball State won four of the next six points to take the third set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
 
"We had our chances tonight," Gooden said. "I don't think it's coach speak or anything like that. I think we were in the mix for it. We just couldn't turn the match in our favor. I thought we were doing alright, battling back in each set. We're continuing to grow."
 
Ball State hit .250 in the match with NIU hitting .211. The Huskies held a 7-5 edge in blocks, but the Cardinals had eight aces to the Huskies' three. Balensiefer had her eighth double-double of the year with 34 assists and 10 digs, adding six kills. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led the match with 25 digs. Risi for Ball State led all players with 17 kills.
 
NIU closes out this current three-match homestand with its final home match of 2019 on Thursday, November 14 against Western Michigan at 6 p.m.
 
--NIU--