Nov. 4, 2006
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio--Miami University's volleyball team won its first two games but was not able to capture the win as the RedHawks (12-15; 8-6 Mid-American Conference) fell to Northern Illinois (18-8; 11-3 MAC) in five games on Saturday evening, 30-28, 30-19, 30-32, 28-30, 10-15.
Miami trailed 4-6 in game one until a Northern Illinois service error, a junior middle hitter Carli Reihman kill and a sophomore libero Melissa Zenz service ace put the RedHawks up one point, 7-6. Miami fell behind by two as late as 14-16 until kills by Reihman and junior outside hitter Jeanna Staun knotted the game at 16-16. Back-to-back kills by Staun put the RedHawks up two points at 20-18 and the two-point advantage was a lead Miami would not relinquish as Miami took game one, 30-28.
Game two began with three consecutive kills by Northern Illinois' Kate McCullagh to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead. Three attack errors and a kill by freshman middle hitter Hallie Hanks pushed the RedHawks to their first lead of the game at 10-8. After the Huskies erased the RedHawk lead, three NIU attack errors and a Reihman kill gave the RedHawks a 14-10 cushion. Miami held a 24-17 lead before the RedHawks took six of the next eight points to capture game two, 30-19.
Northern Illinois came out of the 10-minute intermission strong as it opened up a 7-1 lead in the third game. Miami was able to claw back and tie the game at 13-13. Northern Illinois pushed its lead to four at 16-20 until Miami won the next nine points behind the serving of Zenz. During the run, Zenz collected two service aces while the Huskies tallied five miscues. The 25-20 lead for the RedHawks quickly vanished as Northern Illinois took six of the next seven points to square the game at 26-26. A kill by sophomore outside hitter Emily Schroeder and a Northern Illinois miscue gave the RedHawks two match points at 29-27. Miami could not capitalize as two Huskie kills tied the game at 29-29. Another Schroeder kill gave the RedHawks another opportunity to capture the match until a kill by McCullagh and back-to-back kills by Meagan Schoenrock gave the Huskies a hard-fought 32-30 game-three win.
Miami jumped out of the gates quickly in the fourth game as two Schroeder kills helped give the RedHawks a 7-2 lead. Northern Illinois battled back to knot the game at 11-11. Kills by Reihman and Schroeder lifted Miami to a three-point lead at 21-18, but the next five points went to Northern Illinois giving it a 23-21 advantage. The two-point lead was enough for the Huskies as they went on to win game four, 30-28.
The fifth game did not start out well for the RedHawks as three Miami attack errors helped give Northern Illinois a 7-2 lead. A Staun kill closed the gap to three points at 6-9, but the Huskies took six of the next seven points to capture a 15-10 game five victory.
For Miami, Schroeder led the offensive attack with 22 kills, her ninth 20-plus kill performance of the season. Three other RedHawks collected double-digit kills with Staun collecting 19 kills, Reihman tallying 15 kills, and freshman middle hitter Megan Griffin putting down 11 kills. Zenz led the RedHawks defensively with 26 digs.
Northern Illinois was led offensively by Kate McCullagh's 34 kills and defensively by Gina Guide's 34 digs.
Miami hits the road to round out the Mid-American Conference regular season with a 6 p.m. match at Ohio on Friday, Nov. 10 and a 7 p.m. match at Kent State on Saturday, Nov. 11.
