Ball State University
@ Northern Illinois
Volleyball Falls To NIU In MAC Tournament Action
November 13, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
DEKALB,
With the loss, the Cardinals end the year with a 5-25 overall record. The Huskies improve to 14-17 with the win and advance to face No. 1 seed and 15th-ranked Ohio in Friday's 7:30 p.m. MAC Tournament quarterfinal match at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio.
Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) paced the Ball State offense with 17 kills in the loss, while Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) added a match-high 27 digs.
After the teams battled to a 12-12 tie in the opening game, a Breivogel kill gave the Cardinals a brief one-point edge at the 13-12 mark. Unfortunately, the Huskies rallied off the next five points and went on to win the game by 10 points at 30-20.
The Cardinals responded by scoring the first three points and the second frame before playing to a seven-point advantage at the 19-12 mark. BSU maintained a seven-point lead at 23-16 before a 6-0 NIU run cut the gap to one point at 23-22.
Ball State's Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) stopped the run with a kill, as the Cardinals were also able to capitalize on several NIU errors to reach game point at 29-24.
The Huskies drew within two points, at 29-27, but BSU's two seniors, setter Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) and outside attacker Brittany May (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del H.S.), connected for the game-winning kill on the next play.
Northern Illinois charged out of the gate in the third game, scoring eight of the first nine points on the way to a 30-19 victory in the set.
After falling behind 4-1 in what turned out to be BSU's final game of the season, the Cardinals rallied off eight of the next 10 points to claim a 9-6 advantage. NIU responded with a 14-4 run, which included three aces from Laura Baetzel, to build a 20-13 advantage.
Still trailing by four points at the 28-24 mark, three-straight BSU kills gave the Cardinals life at 28-27. The teams traded the next two points, pushing the score to 29-28, before a solo block from Northern Illinois' Meagan Schoenrock ended the game at 30-28.
Parrell finished her final match as a Cardinal with her 12th double-double of the season, logging 43 assists, 14 digs, five total blocks, two kills and an ace. May collected four kills, three digs and a block assists in her final match.
BSU freshman Karin Caudill (Selma, Ind./Burris Laboratory School) tied a career-high with three aces, while adding seven digs.
Overall, the Cardinals finished the match with a .077 (54-40-163) attack percentage, while adding 80 digs, 11 team blocks and eight aces.
Northern Illinois hit for a .201 (59-23-179) rate of success, while logging 79 digs, 12 team blocks and four aces.
Three Huskies recorded double-digit kills in the contest, paced by Baetzel's match-high 19. She also collected three of NIU's four aces in the pivotal game-four rally. Mandi Caputo added a team-best 22 digs for Northern Illinois.
