Northern Illinois Tops Women's Volleyball

October 28, 2006 | Women's Volleyball

By: Ball State Athletics

Ball State vs. Northern Illinois Box Score

DeKalb, Ill. - - The Ball State (6-17, 3-8 Mid-American Conference) women's volleyball team saw its losing streak extended to seven matches Friday evening with a 1-3 (26-30, 28-30, 30-26, 18-30) setback at MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois (16-7, 9-2 MAC).

In the loss, senior Amanda McCormick (Muncie, Ind./Burris H.S.) racked up a match-best 40 digs to raise her NCAA-leading digs-per-game average to 7.38. Of the 40 digs, 15 came in the final set.

Three Cardinals would finish the contest with double-figure kills, paced by freshman Julie Breivogel's (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) 18. Breivogel would also log seven digs, a pair of blocks and an ace in the contest.

Senior Kelly Cochran (LaPorte, Ind./Michigan City Marquette H.S.) would add her team-leading 11th double-double in the match, posting 11 kills and 17 digs. Cochran is now 35 kills shy of becoming just the third player in school history to record 1,200 career kills and 1,200 career digs.

One of only five student-athletes in school annals to enter the 1,000/1,000 Club, Cochran has amassed 1,165 kills and 1,225 digs in her four seasons with BSU (2003-06). Only Sarah Obras (1,975 kills/1,652 digs) and Megan Hammons (1,827 kills/1,204 digs) have finished their careers at Ball State in the 1,200/1,200 Club.

Senior Kirby Gibson (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson H.S.) would round out BSU's double-figure hitters, collecting 13 kills in the loss. She also added four block assists and a pair of digs.

After trading the first two points in the opening set, the Cardinals would rally off four-straight to pull ahead 5-1. The four-point advantage would be short-lived, however, as the Huskies rallied off the next five points to take their first lead at 6-5. From there, the teams would battle back-and-forth to a 22-22 tie.

A Ball State attack error and a service ace from NIU's Mandi Caputo would break the tie at 24-22 and help pave the way for a 30-26 game-one win for the Huskies.

The Cardinals would score the first point in the second game, only to fall behind 7-4. This time the Huskies would surrender the lead, as BSU scored six of the next seven points to pull ahead 10-8. The teams would trade the lead several more times before playing to a 22-22 tie.

The Cardinals would manage to build a three-point edge at 26-23, only to see the Huskies score the next three points to tie the game at 26-26. After a BSU time out, a NIU attack error would give the Cardinals a brief 27-26 advantage. Unfortunately, the Huskies would score four of the next five points to win the game 30-28.

The third set would open with the teams playing to a 6-6 tie. A NIU service error would break the tie, while Gibson combined with Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) and Breivogel to score back-to-back block assists before adding a kill to push the score 10-6.

The Huskies would manage to claw within one point at 10-9, only to have the Cardinals respond with a 9-2 run to pull ahead 19-11. Northern Illinois would find a way to battle back for the second time in the set, going on a 7-1 run to make the score 20-18.

Another kill from Gibson would stop the NIU run, while senior Stephanie Bacan (Remsen, Iowa/St. Mary's H.S.) managed to serve the next five points to help BSU pull ahead 25-19.

The Cardinals would eventually lead 27-20, before NIU's third run of the set allowed the Huskies close the gap to two points for a second time at 27-25. Ball State was determined to win the game however, as Breivogel, Cochran and freshman Ana Gabriela Pedrosa (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Arnaldo) recorded kills on three of the next four plays to give BSU a 30-26 game three win.

The fourth game was setting up to be a battle early as Ball State and Northern Illinois played to an 8-8 tie. However, a BSU service error helped spark a 4-1 NIU run which gave the Huskies the lead for good at 13-9. Breivogel would smash a kill to get BSU within three at 13-10, but the Cardinals would get no closer, losing the game 30-18.

Parrell would finish the match with 42 assists and 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, while adding four kills and three blocks.

Bacan would finish the match with a team-best two aces and seven digs, while Pedrosa tallied four kills, three digs an ace and a block assists.

Also factoring in the match for the Cardinals were: freshman Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) with six kills, four blocks and three digs; junior Brittany May (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del H.S.) with three kills, two digs and a block; freshman Rachel Alcorn (New Castle, Ind./Chrysler H.S.) with a kill and a dig; freshman Cassie Conner (Willow Springs, Ill./Lyons Township H.S.) with three assists and a dig and freshman Madison Monk (Granger, Ind./Penn H.S.) with a dig.

As a team, the Cardinals were out-hit .148 (61-30-209) to .245 (70-22-196) and out-dug 103-to-94. BSU held the advantage in blocks 9-to-7 and aces 4-to-3.

NIU's Kate McCullagh paces all players with 31 kills in the match, while Gina Guide added a team-best 33 digs for the Huskies.

Ball State will return to action Saturday evening, with a 7 p.m. match at Western Michigan.