Oct. 3, 2010
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
OXFORD, Ohio--Despite taking a 2-1 lead in the match and putting forth a solid effort, Miami University's volleyball team dropped a five-set match to Northern Illinois University (25-22, 16-25, 25-21, 18-25, 9-15) on Sunday afternoon at Millett Hall. The RedHawks fall to 6-11 on the season and 1-3 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Huskies improve to 17-2 overall and 3-1 in league action.
Miami took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 win in the opening set. NIU took a quick 3-1 lead but Miami came back to knot the game, 3-3, off a senior middle hitter Michele Metzler kill and a service ace by junior outside hitter Colleen Loftus. The teams went back and forth with neither leading by more than three points throughout the entire set. Trailing 19-16, Miami rattled off three straight points off kills by junior middle hitter Cassie Farrell, Loftus and a service ace by redshirt freshman libero Jackie Lang to tie the set, 19-19. After a 22-22 tie, Miami used a three-point spurt off a pair of NIU attack errors and a junior outside hitter Amy Raseman kill to capture the set.
Despite jumping out to an early 6-2 lead, spurred by three Raseman kills and a kill and service ace by Metzler, Miami dropped the second set, 16-25. NIU came back to knot the set 6-6 and used a 13-5 flurry to pull out to a 19-11 lead and rolled to the set two win.
The Huskies rattled off five straight points to open the third set. Miami persistently chipped away at the NIU lead, tying the set, 7-7, off a Farrell kill. The RedHawks took their first lead of the set off a Metzler service ace, giving Miami a 14-13 edge. A block by Farrell and Raseman and a Farrell kill put the RedHawks up 16-13. Miami continued to pad its lead, pulling out to a 21-15 advantage off a Loftus kill. NIU closed within one point, 22-21 but a Huskie attack error and respective kills by Metzler and Raseman clinched the third set, 25-21.
Northern Illinois jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set and never looked back, sending the match into a deciding set with a 25-18 set four win. Trailing 18-11, Miami was able to pull within five, 18-13 with help from kills by Loftus and Metzler, but would get no closer than five down the stretch.
In the fifth set, Northern Illinois again pulled out to an early lead, 4-1. Miami closed within two off a Raseman kill, 2-4, but NIU went on a 6-1 surge to take a commanding 9-3 lead and charged to a 15-9 win in the fifth set.
Raseman had a career-high 18 kills for the RedHawks and hit a solid .447 for the match. Metzler tallied 16 kills and hit a sizzling .609 for the match while serving up two aces. Farrell added 12 kills and four blocks, while Loftus tallied 19 digs and two service aces.
Lauren Wicinski led the Huskies with 18 kills, while Maddie Hughes tallied a match-best 22 digs. Kristin Hoffman added 51 assists, three service aces, 19 digs and five blocks for NIU.
Miami rounds out a three-match home stretch next weekend, hosting Kent State at 7 p.m. Friday and Ohio at 5 p.m. Saturday.
