Sept. 4, 2009

Final Stats

Final Box

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - The Northern Illinois volleyball team lost its match to Northern Iowa, 25-19, 25-16, 25-8, on Friday afternoon in its first match at the Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Bash as the Huskies 4-2) held the lead only one time early in the first set, 2-1.

"We have a lot of respect for Northern Iowa and we knew going in to the match that they were one of the top teams in the country," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "We knew we had to play at a high level to play with them and unfortunately we didn't."

The Panthers (3-2) jumped out to early leads in every set and kept the pressure on NIU throughout the match, leaving the Huskies unable to recover. UNI also out-hit (.361-.070) and out-killed (40-26) the Huskies, which is the first time an opponent has done so against NIU this year.

Meghan Romo (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) led NIU with nine kills, while Amanda Tadla had 19 assists. Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill./North) had a team-high eight digs.

The Huskies will finish the Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Bash tomorrow with a 2 p.m. CT match against Middle Tennessee State (3-0) and a 7 p.m. match versus Georgia Tech (3-0).