The Northern Illinois University volleyball team fell in straight sets (13-25, 17-25, 22-25) to Ball State Saturday afternoon at Victor E. Court. Sophie Hurt (Elmhurst, Ill./IC Catholic Prep) and Olivia Hogan (Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman Catholic) logged career-highs with 16 assists and 11 digs, respectively, in the loss.
"Even with the setback of not getting the result today, people tried to put themselves in spots where we could try and find some success (that's) appreciated by the staff and I think from the team as well," said head NIU coach Ray Gooden. "You saw a lot of different faces tonight doing a lot of different things. We try to have a bunch of different combinations - those guys came out and tried to play their best, but it just wasn't our day,"
How it Happened: NIU (13-6, 6-3 MAC) owned a 11-9 advantage in the first frame, but the Cardinals (14-6, 6-2 MAC) went on a 16-2 run to close the set. Ball State's .414 hitting percentage was its highest of the afternoon.
Again, in the second frame, NIU had a 4-2 lead thanks to a kill from Sammi Lockwood (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge) and three Ball State errors. But the Cardinals responded with an 8-1 run, giving Ball State a 10-5 edge. The Huskies cut into the Cardinals' lead after Nikolette Nedic's (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) kill from Hurt made the score 14-11, Ball State. However, the set ended with a 3-1 Cardinal run as Ball State took the 2-0 lead in the match.
NIU battled back after falling behind by eight points to kick off the third set. The Huskies embarked on a 7-1 run midway through the frame, making the score 18-17, Ball State. The two squads traded blows as the set winded down, but it was the Cardinals who emerged victorious, claiming the sweep over NIU.
Notables: Hurt led NIU with 16 assists (career-high) while Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) was close behind with 13. Nedic posted nine kills, a team-high. Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) had 12 digs and Hogan posted 11 (career-high). Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy), Emily Dykes (Winterville, N.C./Ayden-Grifton) and Lockwood all had two blocks apiece.
Up Next: NIU will look to get back in the win column when they play Toledo (13-6, 6-2 MAC) on the road next weekend. Matches are set for Friday at 6 p.m. EST and Saturday at 4 p.m. EST.
"We have to make our practice gym better, and we understand how important the details are. The whole team knows that they can't assume anything. Whenever we get to a certain level, there's always another level. We thought we maybe got to a point where things went well against Bowling Green and Western, that's another level. But there are three or four more teams that are going to challenge us the same way. So, our practice gym has to get better, knowing that we're going to have to take another step to be successful, especially on the road,"
Original source can be found here.
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