Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Northern Illinois
Volleyball Drops Five-Set Thriller to Northern Illinois
10/10/2009 10:39:23 PM | Volleyball
Freshman Rachel Iaquaniello posts a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs
Box score.
DeKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – For more than two hours, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team fought tooth and nail with Northern Illinois University, eventually falling 3-2 (15-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 4-15) in Mid-American Conference action Saturday, Oct. 10, here at Victor E. Court. Freshman Rachel Iaquaniello (Plymouth, Mich.-Dearborn Divine Child) finished the night with her eighth double-double of the campaign by recording 17 kills and 11 digs and a .289 attack percentage (17-6-38).
Northern Illinois ups its record to 9-10 overall and 3-3 inside the conference, meanwhile Eastern drops to 3-19 on the campaign and 2-4 in the league.
Iaquaniello led all players on the evening with her 17 kills to bring her total in three matches this week to 48 (13 vs. Oakland, 18 at Western Michigan and 17 at NIU). Classmate Kristen Baker (Mentor, Ohio-Mentor) had 11 put-a-ways and four block assists as the Eagles notched a .170 attack percentage (56-28-165) for the contest. Junior Jennifer Swartz (Canton, Mich.-Westland John Glenn) and sophomore Jill Bates (Billings, Mont.-Billings Senior) each finished with eight kills.
The home-standing Huskies hit a solid .284 (63-17-162) for the contest, as four players reached double figures in kills led by Meagan Schoenrock with 16. Allison McGlaughlin notched 15 kills while Cassie Yates and Mary Kurisch had 13 and 11, respectively.
In the first set, NIU brought the energy early with a 25-15 win and kept it going for most of the second set. But with the Huskies up 20-12, the Eagles completely changed the momentum, ending the set, 25-23, on a 13-3 run. After the break, the Huskies regrouped to win the third set 25-17. In the fourth set, EMU held a steady lead for most of the set, leading 18-11 at one point, but narrowly escaped a Huskie rally to win 25-22 before NIU claimed the victory in the fifth frame.
Eastern Michigan switches to cross-divisional play Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18, as the MAC's West Division begins its six match stretch versus the East Division. First up for the Green and White is Bowling Green State University Friday evening at venerable Anderson Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Following the match, EMU motors south to Oxford, Ohio for a 5 p.m. contest Saturday versus the RedHawks of Miami University. First serve for that contest is set for 5 p.m. at Millett Hall.
