Sept. 17, 2005

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio--Miami University's volleyball team finally found itself on the winning side of a five-game match, topping Wright State 22-30, 30-22, 30-26, 30-32 and 15-13 in Saturday's second match of the Miami Best Western/Sycamore Inn Classic. Miami improved to 7-3 overall, while the Raiders moved to 4-5 on the season.

Bolstered by a .486 hitting percentage in the first game, Wright State posted a quick 12-7 lead and never looked back. Miami would pull within one of the Raiders twice, 12-13 and 14-15, but would get no closer. With the RedHawks trailing three, 19-16, Wright State went on a 5-0 surge to pull away, 24-16. From there, the Raiders went on to collect the 30-22 game-one win. Jenny Schultz led the Raiders in the set with six kills off seven attempts and a .857 hitting percentage.

A kill and a service ace by sophomore middle hitter Carli Reihman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and a kill by senior outside hitter Kristen Walters (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) opened the second game for Miami as the RedHawks took a 3-0 lead. No team led by more than three points until kills by Reihman and Walters and a WSU attack error handed Miami a 21-15 lead. A service ace from senior setter Megan Clark (Solon, Ohio/Solon) spurred Miami down the stretch, while a service ace by freshman middle hitter Emily Schroeder (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) iced the second game for the RedHawks, 30-22.

Two kills by Schroeder and a service ace from Reihman helped Miami to an early 7-2 lead in the third game. Wright State charged back to knot the game, 12-12, but the RedHawks went on a 7-1 run with help from three kills by sophomore outside hitter Kate Norris (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) to post a 19-14 lead. The Raiders chipped away at the RedHawk lead and a block by Sarah Poling and Lizzy Gunn put WSU with one of Miami, 21-20. Back-to-back service aces from senior libero Suzy Wolford (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) sparked a 4-0 run for the RedHawks to put them up 25-20, and Miami went on to collect the 30-26 game-three win.

In the fourth game, Wright State built a 20-16 lead before Miami went on a 4-0 run, ignited by a Schroeder kill and followed by a trio of Norris kills to knot the game, 20-20. The teams went back and fourth and, eventually, Miami was able to post leads of 27-25, 28-26 and 29-27. A kill from WSU's Schultz and a Miami attack error evened the tally, 29-29. Schroeder put down a kill for the `Hawks to give Miami the 30-29 edge, but another Schultz kill, a block by Gunn and Lindsey Frank and a Miami attack error sent the match to a fifth game with a 32-30 Raider win in the fourth set.

Wright State pulled out to a quick 4-1 lead in the fifth set, but Miami battled back to capture a 5-4 edge. A kill by Norris put Miami up 14-12, but WSU's Shultz retaliated with a kill to put the Raiders within one, 14-13. Miami's Clark set up freshman outside hitter Alex Ratcliff (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) for the kill to hand Miami the match off a 15-13 game-five win.

Reihman led the Redhawks with a career-high 20 kills and added 16 digs. Schroeder notched a season-high 18 kills and posted 10 digs and three service aces, while Norris tallied 17 kills and four blocks. Wolford amassed 24 digs and tied a career-high with three service aces. Clark posted 63 assists and 13 digs.

For Wright State, Schultz led all players with 23 kills. Poling notched 18 kills, 17 digs and four blocks, while Kimbro added 13 kills and 10 digs.