Sept. 27, 2003
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - Seeking its second Mid-American Conference victory in as many nights, the Miami volleyball team fell just short on Saturday night as visiting Northern Illinois won the four-game match (29-31, 30-21, 30-28, 30-27), and both teams evened their MAC records at 1-1. Senior Tara Buroker (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) notched a double-double for the RedHawks with 14 kills and 12 digs.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead in the first game before a service error started a 4-2 Miami rally to cut the deficit to two, 10-8. The frame swayed back-and-forth for the next 20 or so points until NIU opened up a three-point lead at 22-19 on a block by Corinne Walsh and Kate McCullagh. Four consecutive service aces, courtesy of senior Angie Zent (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) brought the game back in to Miami's favor, 26-25, setting up a 31-29 win for RedHawks.
Six different Red and White players had kills in the first game, with none having more than three kills. Meanwhile, on the other side of the net, NIU's Walsh was near-perfect hitting with six kills on seven attempts (.857). Miami recorded a .200 (13-6-35) hitting percentage while the Huskies notched a .174 (19-11-46) in the opening game.
Game two began and ended in favor of the Huskies as they picked up a 9-2 lead in the early goings, and then finished off the 30-21 win with a kill by Walsh. The kill was Walsh's first of the game, as Amanda Newlin recorded a game-best seven kills. NIU setter Marie Zidek brought her match assist total to 30 with 17 helpers in the second-game win.
The Huskies killed 20 points in the second game for a .500 hitting percentage (20-3-34).
Trailing again in the third game, 13-6, the RedHawks rallied with a 12-7 flurry to pull within two, 20-18, and force an NIU timeout. A service ace by freshman Jordan Centers (Norwalk, Ohio/St. Paul) finally gave Miami the lead, 25-24, but sparked a 3-0 run by the Huskies to run the NIU lead back to two, 27-25. Newlin finished off the game, 30-28, with a kill to give the Huskies a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Miami improved its hitting in the third game, connecting on 18-of-41 attempts for a .293 hitting percentage (18-6-41), its highest of the first three games. However, hitting was not enough for the Red and White as the Huskies recorded 17 kills and 15 digs in the game.
Needing a win in the fourth game to continue the match, the RedHawks could not battle back from an early six-point deficit, 14-8, as NIU went on to win the match with a 30-27 fourth-game victory. Miami did get it back to as few as three points, 22-19, but NIU's Brooke Dodson, who finished with a match-high 18 kills, tallied the final point for Northern Illinois.
Three Northern Illinois players, Dodson, Newlin and Tera Lobdell, recorded double-doubles in the contest, while Buroker was the Red and White's only beneficiary of a double-double. Zidek finished the four-game set with 58 assists for the Huskies while sophomore Megan Clark (Solon, Ohio/Solon) tallied 47 assists for Miami.
The RedHawks hit the road for their next conference match at Ohio on Oct. 1, before returning home to Millett Hall for a weekend stand, Oct. 3-4, against Buffalo and Marshall, respectively. All three matches are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
