DEKALB, Ill.—The Miami University volleyball team dropped a hard-fought five-set match at Northern Illinois University on Thursday evening, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 11-15. Miami drops to 4-5 overall, while the Huskies move to 5-6.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- In a close set, NIU took a 13-9 advantage midway through set one. Miami climbed back to knot the set, 14-14, with help from a pair of kills by senior Sarah Wojick. The set went back and forth and was tied at 19 apiece, but the Huskies went on a 6-1 run to take the first set, 25-20.
- Miami used an 8-1 stretch in the second set to take a late 20-13 lead. A trio of kills from sophomore Lindsay Taylor down the stretch propelled Miami to a 25-17 win in the second set to tie the match, 1-1. The RedHawks hit an impressive .400 in the second set, amassing 16 kills on 30 attempts.
- Much like the first two sets, the third stanza was close early on. A 4-0 spurt, fueled by a pair of blocks by Wojick and senior Avarie Powell, handed Miami a 17-12 advantage. The Huskies would get as close as three, but kills from junior Sophie Riemersma and Taylor along with a senior Abigail Huser service ace iced the set for MU, 25-19.
- The Huskies pulled out to a 16-9 advantage in the fourth set. Miami closed within three before the Huskies took a 22-17 lead. A pair of sophomore Allyson Severance service aces sandwiched between two kills from Wojick put the RedHawks within one, 22-21. The Huskies rattled off two points to extend their lead to 24-21, but Miami did not relent. Kills from Wojick and Taylor again closed the gap to one and forced an NIU timeout. The Huskies, however, collected the set four win, 25-23.
- Miami bolted out to a quick 3-0 lead in the fifth set. The Huskies retaliated and took a 6-4 lead of their own. The RedHawks were able to knot the set three times, the last coming at 8-8, but were never able to overtake the Huskies who took the match with a 15-11 win in the fifth set.
COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH CAROLYN CONDIT:
"The five-set match is the toughest to lose. I'm proud of how hard we fought and, at times, executed.
Morgan Seaman set a good match enabling us to out-hit the Huskies, but we must do a better job with what we can control to defeat worthy opponents."
NOTES:
- Riemersma led the RedHawks with 15 kills. She was followed by Wojick and Taylor, who had 14 apiece. Powell was the other RedHawk in double figures for kills.
- Powell paced Miami with five blocks (one solo; four assist), while Wojick tallied four block assists.
- Severance tied a career high with four service aces.
- Huser amassed 27 digs, her third 20-plus dig effort of the season.
- Senior Morgan Seaman tallied 51 assists.
UP NEXT:
Miami returns to the court for the second of a two-match series at Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Feb. 26.