Ball State University
22-5,11-3
Northern Illinois
23-5,12-2
Women?s Volleyball Swept At Northern Illinois
November 06, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
DEKALB, Ill. - - In an offensive battle, the Ball State women's volleyball team could not get past a hot Northern Illinois squad Saturday, suffering a 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-23) Mid-American Conference setback to the Huskies at Victor E. Court.
Ball State falls to 22-5 (11-3 MAC) with the loss, while the Huskies run their current winning streak to 11 matches and improve to 23-5 (12-2 MAC).
Both teams finished the night hitting above .300, with the Huskies holding a .396 (52-10-106) to .304 (42-11-102) advantage.
In the loss outside hitters junior Kara Bates and sophomore Kylee Baker paced the Ball State offense with 10 kills apiece. Baker also added 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Sophomore Lauren Grant turned in another solid performance, posting eight kills on 15 swings with just one error for a .467 hitting mark.
Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich led all players with a match-high 13 digs.
NIU's Lauren Wicinski paced all players with 21 kills, while Sarah Angelos added 10. Amber Walker paced the NIU defense with 12 digs.
In addition to out-hitting the Cardinals, NIU held a 46-37 edge in digs and a 5-2 advantage in team blocks. BSU out-aced the Huskies 3-1.
Northern Illinois rattled off the first five points in the opening frame, only to see the Cardinals battle back within two at the 6-4. BSU kept the gap two points at the 10-8 mark, before a 7-2 run gave the Huskies control of the set. NIU went on to win the frame 25-19 on a kill from MacKenzie Roddy.
The teams played to a 9-9 stalemate in the second set before kills from Bates and Grant sparked an 8-4 BSU run giving the guests a 17-13 lead. Ball State maintained the four-point lead at the 20-16 mark, only to see the Huskies battle back and tie the score at 22.
While NIU took the lead on the next rally, a service error and an ace from Baker gave Ball State the first set-point at 24-23. Unfortunately, the host Huskies scored the next three points to win the frame 26-24 on a kill from Allison McGlaughlin.
Ball State looked poised to force a fourth set, holding a 21-15 lead in the third set following a Baker kill. However, the hosts answered back with a 7-1 run to tie the score at 22. Another Baker kill helped BSU break the tie, but once again the hosts scored the final three points of the set, winning the match 25-23 on an ace from Justine Schepler.
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes out the 2011 regular season next week with a pair of 7 p.m. matches at Worthen Arena. Thursday, the Cardinals host Eastern Michigan live on the Ball State Sports Network. Central Michigan visits Muncie Saturday in BSU's annual senior night.
