DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team moved to 5-8 in Mid-American Conference action Saturday night after a 3-0 (18-25, 23-25, 16-25) loss to the Ohio Bobcats at Victor E. Court.
Ohio (8-15, 8-5 MAC) grabbed an early 7-4 lead on a 3-0 run capped by a pair of NIU errors. The Huskies came back to tie the set 10-10 on a block by
Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and
Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central). The Bobcats broke the tie with an 8-2 spurt that included three Caroline Clippard kills to take a 18-12 lead. The two sides traded points for the remainder of the set with Ohio taking it 25-18 on an Olivia Margolies kill. Ohio hit .355 in the opening set to NIU's .114.
NIU (11-12, 5-8 MAC) battled out of an early 9-4 deficit in the second set to get within one at 11-10 on a
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) ace. Down 16-14, the Huskies got a kill from
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) to start a 5-0 run that gave NIU a 19-14 lead. The sophomore also had the last two points of the run on kills. NIU led 22-20 when Ohio ran off three straight points to go ahead 23-22. Nedic put down a kill to tie the set at 23, but a Maggie Nedoma kill and a Sam Steele ace gave the Bobcats the set 25-22 and a 2-0 lead in the match. Ohio saved its best offensive volleyball of the match for the final set. The Bobcats hit .387 in building a 19-6 lead, eventually winning 25-16 to win the match 3-0.
"Ohio did a really good job and came in with a lot of really good energy and played tough volleyball," said head coach
Ray Gooden following Saturday's loss. "We had opportunities to make some positive plays, but we just didn't make them. We've got to continue to trust ourselves and get better as a group."
Mihacevich led NIU with nine kills, hitting .333 for the match. Nedic had eight kills as Atiemo had seven kills to go with a season-high seven blocks. NIU held an 8.0-4.0 advantage in blocks but hit just .168 to the Bobcats' .333.
The Huskies go on the road next weekend for two matches at Akron. The series opens on Friday, November 5 at 6 p.m.
--NIU--
