ATHENS, Ohio – Down 12-14 and facing two season-ending match points, the Miami University volleyball team rallied to take the fifth set, 19-17, and earn a dramatic 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 19-17) win over Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals on Sunday evening. The RedHawks improve to 21-9 overall and advance to their first MAC Tournament final since 2007, while the Huskies finish their season at 22-10.
Miami will take on fifth seed Western Michigan in the MAC Championship on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Athens, Ohio. The Broncos upset the top seed and regular season champion Ohio in five sets in the other semifinal on Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 (with no blackouts), BCSN and Time Warner Cable. The winner of the MAC Championship will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
A true team effort led the RedHawks to the win on Sunday. Miami hit .236 for the match and had five players finish with double-digit kills, led by sophomore outside hitter Maris Below with 14. She made it a double-double with a season-high 16 digs. Sophomore middle hitter Paige Hill and junior outside hitter Annie Reiswig each recorded 12 kills, redshirt junior middle hitter Jenny Ingle had 11 and senior right side hitter Sarah Chaney put down 10.
Defensively, Miami had 92 digs in the match, led by freshman libero Maeve McDonald with 25. In addition to Below’s 16, each of the RedHawk setters, senior Meg Riley and sophomore Krista Brakauskas had 12. Both recorded double-doubles as Riley finished with 34 assists, while Brakauskas had 27. Riley nearly made it a triple-double, finishing with eight kills.
Northern Illinois raced to an 8-5 lead to begin set one. Reiswig put down a pair of kills, while Riley and Chaney each had one, but the Huskies maintained a 14-11 advantage. An 8-1 run by the RedHawks put it in front for the first time in the match at 19-15. NIU fought back to pull within two at 20-22, but a kill from Hill and a service error gave the ‘Hawks set point. Ingle finished off a 25-22 win with a kill off a Riley assist.
Reiswig and Below each recorded a pair of kills as Miami took control of set two, jumping to a 15-8 lead. Ingle found the floor a couple of times as the ‘Hawks were able to maintain an advantage of at least four points. With the score 22-18, a Northern Illinois attack error and back-to-back kills from Reiswig finished off a 25-18 win and gave the RedHawks a 2-0 lead in the match heading into intermission.
The break seemed to reinvigorate the Huskies as they opened up a 6-3 lead to begin set three. Two kills each from Below, Ingle and Reiswig were part of a 12-6 answer that put the RedHawks up, 15-12. NIU scored three straight to tie the score at 15. Miami would eventually push the lead back to two at 22-20, but the Huskies scored three straight to push themselves out of danger. A kill from Chaney retied the score at 23, but two straight points by Northern Illinois gave it a 25-23 victory.
Tied at eight in set four, three straight points from NIU put it up to stay. Miami kept it close throughout the set, but could never quite manage to tie the score. Trailing 21-23, a service ace by Brakauskas pulled the ‘Hawks to within one, but they followed with a service error. Hill put down a kill off a Brakauskas assist to fight off one set point, but the Huskies answered with a final kill to take another 25-23 win and send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
The final set started perfectly for the Red and White. Two NIU attack errors, a block by Riley and Hill and a kill from Riley gave MU a 4-0 lead. Northern Illinois scored five of the next seven to pull within two at 5-7, but a Huskie attack error and a service ace from freshman outside hitter Olivia Rusek put Miami up by four at 9-5. With the score 11-7 in favor of the RedHawks, a 6-0 run by NIU gave it a 13-11 advantage and put Miami on the brink of being eliminated.
A kill from Below pulled the ‘Hawks to within one, but NIU’s Mackenzie Roddy answered to give the Huskies match point. Hill put down an empathic kill to fight off the first one, and after a long rally a Northern Illinois attack error tied the score at 14. The Huskies scored next to get another match point, but sent the next serve long to tie the score at 15. Miami actually got the next two attempts at match point off a NIU attack error and a Chaney kill, but each time the Huskies tied the score. Tied at 17, Below gave the RedHawks their third match point. This time Northern Illinois hit the ball out of bounds for the attack error to give Miami a 19-17 win and a 3-2 victory in the match.
The RedHawks held the Huskies to a .167 attack percentage and outblocked them, 8-6. NIU was led by senior Mackenzie Roddy, who had 25 kills and 17 digs on the night.
