Nov. 5, 2005
Final Stats
DeKALB, Ill.--Playing its final Mid-American Conference regular-season road match, Miami University's volleyball team dropped a three-game match at Northern Illinois University (13-16; 5-9 MAC) 26-30, 23-30, 22-30 on Saturday evening. Miami falls to 15-10 overall and 8-6 in MAC action.
Two kills and a service ace by freshman Emily Schroeder (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) helped Miami gain an early 4-1 advantage in the first game. A kill by senior outside hitter Kristen Walters (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) put Miami at a 7-5 advantage, but Northern Illinois knotted the game, 7-7. The teams went back and forth and NIU took its first lead at 11-10 with a kill by Kate McCullagh. Eventually, the Huskies build five-point leads of 23-18, 25-20 and 28-23. A kill by NIU's Corinne Walsh put the Huskies at game point, 29-24, but a pair of kills by freshman outside hitter Alex Ratcliff (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) closed the gap to three, 26-29. However, a kill iced the first game for the Huskies, 30-26.
It was Northern Illinois who captured an early 4-1 lead in the second set. After a kill by sophomore outside hitter Jeanna Staun (Loveland, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) to pull the RedHawks within three points, 5-8, NIU staged an 8-1 run, spurred by two kills by McCullagh, to post a 16-6 lead. A service ace by NIU's Gina Guide put the Huskies at another 10-point lead, 28-18, but two sophomore outside hitter Kate Norris (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) kills, a kill by Ratcliff and an NIU attack error put Miami within six points, 22-28. NIU, however, went on to collect the 30-23 game-two win.
In the third game, Miami took a 10-7 lead off a Reihman kill and led 11-8 off another Reihman kill. NIU came right back to knot the game, 11-11. After a Miami tied the game, 14-14, NIU went on a 5-0 run to post an 19-14 lead, until another Reihman kill halted the Huskie run. But it was all NIU down the stretch as the Huskies captured the match off a 30-22 game-three win.
For Miami, Reihman had 11 kills, while senior libero Suzy Wolford (Batavia, Ill/Batavia) notched a match-high 14 digs.
The Huskies were led by McCullagh with 18 kills, while Walsh added 12 kills and Amy Ward notched 11.
Miami returns home to round out the MAC regular season, hosting Ohio at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11 and Kent State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12. Friday's match will be televised on a tape-delay basis on local Time Warner Cable. Replay time is to be announced. Saturday's match is senior night when Miami will honor its three seniors: Megan Clark, Suzy Wolford and Kristen Walters.
