Oct. 4, 2003
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami University's volleyball team (7-12; 1-4 Mid-American Conference) claimed a 30-21 win in the first game, but dropped the next three games to Marshall (12-6; 2-1 MAC), 30-32, 16-30 and 27-30.
Back-to-back service aces by sophomore middle hitter Natalie Kapteyn (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood) and a kill by junior outside hitter Angie Zent (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) pushed Miami to a 5-3 edge and a lead it would not relinquish. Senior middle hitter Susan Poll (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood) connected on all four attack attempts to lead the RedHawks in the first game with a 1.000 hitting percentage, while Kapteyn served up three aces en route to the 30-21 Game One win for the RedHawks.
With a service ace from redshirt freshman middle hitter Lauren Slusser (Columbus Grove, Ohio/Columbus Grove) and kills by sophomore outside hitter Kristen Walters (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), sophomore setter Megan Clark (Solon, Ohio/Solon) and Poll, Miami claimed a 23-18 edge. The Thundering Herd, however, went on a 5-0 run to knot the game, 23-23, off two RedHawk miscues, kills by sophomore setter Katie Stein and freshman middle hitter Anja Wilk and a block by sophomore middle hitter Amber Sims and senior middle blocker Nicole Michal. The teams went back and forth until a block by Smith and sophomore middle blocker Nickie Sanlin and a kill by senior outside hitter Tracey King iced the second game for the Thundering Herd, 32-30.
Bolstered by a .314 hitting percentage in the third game, Marshall took the lead from the onset of the game and never looked back as the Thundering Herd collected a 30-16 Game Three win. Sanlin paced Marshall with five kills and a .833 hitting percentage in the set.
Several times early in the fourth game Miami owned three-point advantages with the last coming at 11-8 off a Marshall ball handling error. The Thundering Herd came back to take a 12-11 lead and the two teams went back and forth until Marshall pulled away to a 23-19 lead. With help from two kills by freshman outside hitter Christin Bimberg, Marshall extended its lead to 29-24, but a kill by Clark, a service ace by Poll and a block by Zent and Slusser held off the Thundering Herd and pulled the RedHawks within two, 29-27, however a kill by junior outside hitter Isabell Anderer cinched the match for Marshall, 30-27.
Poll paced the RedHawks with 12 kills and a match-best .571 hitting percentage. Buroker notched 11 kills and a match-high 19 digs, while Zent recorded four service aces and 11 digs.
Miami embarks on a five-match road stretch starting at Wright State on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
