Sept. 15, 2009

Final Stats

Final Box

DeKALB, Ill. - With the Northern Illinois volleyball team up 2-1 in the match, Milwaukee staged a late rally from behind in the fourth set and carried the momentum into the fifth set to claim a 25-22, 23-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-10 win over the Huskies on Tuesday night at Victor E. Court.

"The whole match was based on momentum," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "We had Milwaukee beat, but they had a couple fighters that wouldn't quit."

With NIU up 22-19 in the fourth set after an overpass kill by Cassie Yates (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte), the Panthers stormed back, scoring four straight points, to take a 23-22 lead after a kill and block by Natalie Schmitting, a kill by Samantha Trawitzke, and an attack error by Meagan Schoenrock (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview). Following an NIU timeout, Schoenrock answered with a kill to knot the score, but then kills from Trawitzke and Meliss Jansen gave the Panthers the set.

"They continued to play and we just put a little too much pressure on ourselves to make The Play," Gooden said. "We are continuing to work on being able to do that."

Milwaukee continued to use its momentum in the fifth set by jumping out to a 3-0 lead. NIU fought back to tie it at 4-4 after a block by Mary Kurisch (LaCrosse, Wis./West Salem), but then the Panthers ripped off an 8-0 run with the help of four Huskie attack errors to claim a 12-4 advantage that left the Huskies unable to recover.

"Again, I think we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to make the perfect play as opposed to the proper play," said Gooden.

For the fourth straight match, Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton) led NIU in kills with 20 and notched her fourth double-double of the year with a career-high 19 digs. Kurisch and Schoenrock each added 14 kills apiece, marking a season-high for Kurisch, while Yates had 11 with a team-best five blocks. Amanda Tadla (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) also notched a double-double, her first of the season, with a career-best 15 digs and a career-high tying 53 assists.

"I thought Mary did a really good job tonight of playing a spot that she ordinarily doesn't play," Gooden said.

On the defensive side, Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill./North) led the way with her second consecutive 20-dig match. Monica Lang (Chicago, Ill./Marist) also chipped in with a season-high 17 digs.

"Maddie and Monica did some solid things defensively tonight as well," said Gooden.

The Huskies have rest of the week off before their next match at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday, September 22 against DePaul at Victor E. Court.