In the thick of a MACtion showdown that began with a lopsided opening set and ended in a five-set thriller, the NIU volleyball team engineered its best in-game turnaround of the season to claim its first MAC victory.
NIU (3-11, 1-1 MAC) outlasted Bowling Green State University (7-6, 1-1 MAC) in five sets Friday to close the series between the two squads. The Huskies replied to their disastrous first set by winning the ensuing two sets before the Falcons forced the fifth.
LOPSIDED LEADOFF
NIU fell flat in every phase during Friday’s opening set. The Huskies were outhit by the Falcons by a margin of .653. NIU hit -.042 while BGSU hit .611. Bowling Green rolled to a 25-10 win to move ahead by a set.
“Honestly, after that first set, which was really rough, we had two decisions,” Nedic said. “Either to step it up and push through, or back down. Our team chose to step it up and push through that, even though it was really, really rough, but we did it.”
Despite early setbacks, NIU managed to post similar numbers to Bowling Green in the final box score. The Huskies concluded the match with 61 kills to the Falcons’ 66 kills. BGSU narrowly outhit NIU .304 to .295.
NIU was benefited by three double-figure showings from its hitters. Junior outside hitter Nikolette Nedic and graduate student outside hitter Katie Erdmann shared the team lead in kills with 17 apiece. Nedic’s .516 hitting percentage was good for her highest efficiency rating of the season.
Erdmann pocketed her second double-double in as many days, pairing her 17 kills with 13 digs. Senior opposite/outside hitter Emily Dykes recorded 11 kills on the night.
NIU’s efforts prevailed in spite of double-digit kill performances by Bowling Green’s threatening duo of sophomore opposite hitter/setter Lauryn Hovey (19) and junior outside hitter Mia Tyler (17). Hovey finished with the match-lead in kills along with five service aces.
NIU’s best performance came to fruition in the third set. The Huskies surpassed the Falcons in kills (18-15) and hitting percentage (.471-.237). Bowling Green retaliated by taking the fourth set and forcing the match to its maximum distance.
GOODBYE, BOWLING GREEN
Controversy arose in the middle stages of the final set when an attack by Tyler was initially ruled a kill after officials determined that the ball made contact with NIU junior defensive specialist/libero Jada Cerniglia before landing out-of-bounds. Parys challenged the ruling of contact in the NIU backcourt. The ensuing review returned a ruling in favor of the Huskies that sparked NIU’s put-away effort.
“Every time I go for a challenge, I’m very confident that it was the right call,” Parys said. “There wasn’t really a ton of fear there. If a player tells you that they didn’t touch it, you just kind of have to trust that the refs are able to see that, and that was a huge swing for us.”
After the play in question, NIU slammed the door on Bowling Green with six kills that included back-to-back terminations by Nedic to end the night.
“Right now, we are so, so confident,” Nedic said. “That was just a huge step in the right direction for our team, and that’s just a little glimpse of what our season’s going to look like. Now, we know we can do it. We can beat anyone we want.”
With the win, NIU escalated from the basement of the league standings up to seventh overall and fourth in the West Division. Bowling Green fell to sixth in the MAC and third in the East Division.
The Huskies’ next series will be their first time playing at home in 11 matches. NIU will host the Miami University RedHawks at Victor E. Court for its MAC home opener Sept. 29 and 30. Live statistics for both matchups will be available on SIDEARM Sports.
