Northern Illinois Rallies Past Volleyball, 3-2

MUNCIE, Ind. - - After winning the first two games, the Ball State women's volleyball team lost the momentum Saturday night, dropping a 3-2 (27-30, 23-30, 30-18, 30-26, 15-9) decision to Northern Illinois at Worthen Arena.

With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 2-4 in Mid-American Conference action and 3-15 overall. The Huskies, who collected their third-straight win, improve to 9-11 (3-3 MAC).

Three Ball State players logged double-figure kills in the match, while four Cardinals collected double-digit digs.

Freshman Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) paced all defensive players with 27 digs, marking the 18th-straight match she has reached double figures.

Senior Brittany May (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del H.S.) and sophomore Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) each collected a match-high 19 kills, while Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) added 10.

After the teams battled to a 16-16 tie in the opening game, Breivogel came to life, smashing a kill and adding two service aces as Ball State pulled ahead 20-16. After the Huskies tallied the next two points, the Cardinals went on a 7-2 run to pull ahead 27-20.

NIU managed to draw within two points at 28-26, but kills from Breivogel on two of the next three plays ended the set 30-27 in favor of the Cardinals.

The Huskies scored the first three points of the second stanza, only to see the Cardinals go on a 13-3 run to pull ahead 13-6. The Huskies did not get closer than five points the rest of the game, falling 30-23 on a kill from BSU's Kakatolis.

After the 10-minute break, Northern Illinois came out of the locker room on fire, scoring 12 of the first 14 points. The Cardinals battled back within four at 18-14 and only trailed by five at 20-15, but a 7-0 Huskies run put the game out of reach. NIU went on to win the set 30-18.

Northern Illinois came out of the gate just as strong in the fourth game, posting the first five points and never trailing, winning the set 30-26.

The fifth and deciding game saw the teams play to a 5-5 tie before a BSU ball handling error and a kill from NIU's Laura Baetzel put the guests ahead 7-5. The Huskies maintained an 8-6 advantage at the court switch and rallied off seven of the final 10 points to win the game 15-9.

Joining Rio with double-figure digs for the Cardinals were senior Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) with 18, sophomore Rachel Alcorn (New Castle, Ind./Chrysler H.S.) with 14 and junior Christine Kennedy (San Marcos, Calif./University of San Diego H.S.) with 14.

Meagan Schoenrock and Irene Johnson finished the match with 16 kills apiece for Northern Illinois, while Baetzel added 12. Mandi Caputo paced four Huskies players with double-figure digs, scoring 18.

Overall, NIU held a .130 (54-29-192) to .119 (67-43-202) attacking advantage, while out-blocking the Cardinals 15.5 to 9.5. Both teams scored five service aces, while BSU out-dug the Huskies 89 to 79.

The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday, when it travels to Ohio for a 7 p.m. showdown with the four-time defending league champion Bobcats.

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Alcorn

Julie Breivogel

Elaina Kakatolis

Christine Kennedy

Brittany May

Angie Parrell

Alyssa Rio