Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northern Ill
Volleyball Falls To Northern Illinois, 3-1
10/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2001
DeKalb, Ill.--It was a battle of the offenses as the Northern Illinois Huskies (11-4, 7-2 Mid-American) improved on a seven-match winning streak topping the Chippewas (4-13, 0-10 MAC) Friday night, 3-1.
The game scores were 24-30, 23-30, 30-28 and 20-30.
The Chippewas took an early advantage in game one, leading until point 22. The Huskies rallied back to lead the remainder of the game and take the decision, 30-24. Emily Lovejoy (Traverse City/Fr.) led the offense with five kills while NIU's Tera Lobdell led the Huskies with five kills.
Game two was a different story with Tenisha Wilkins blasting nine kills through the Chippewa defense. Jenny Bowman's jump serve added to the Huskie's arsenal. The Huskies had a .314 hitting percentage in game two to the Chippewas' .174. NIU maintained the lead throughout the game and finalized it 30-23.
Central hung tough in game three. NIU came out on top but Central battled to capture the lead at 14-13. Northern rallied back to tie it at 16 as both teams battled for each point to the end of the game. The hard-hitting action of Central solidified the match. CMU nailed a .364 hitting percentage in game three to NIU's .275. Melissa Reneski (New Baltimore/Fr.) put down six kills while Jen VonderHaar of Northern had five.
Game four was also tight with both teams stepping up the defense. The sideouts were frequent but Northern came through in the end to take the match, 30-20. Central totaled 51 digs to NIU's 64 on the night.
Lovejoy came close to a double-double with 16 kills and nine digs. Reneski posted a season-high 15 kills on the night while Susie Smith (Kalamazoo/Jr.) posted a career-high 13 kills. Jodi Jesion (Oregon, Ohio/Sr.) led the defense with 12 digs.
NIU hit a .329 hitting percentage in the match while the Chippewas hit a .233.
The Chippewas are home at Rose Arena Wednesday, Oct. 23, against Oakland at 7 p.m.
