NIU volleyball (3-23, 1-15 MAC) fell to the Bowling Green State University Falcons (19-8, 14-2 MAC) in 3 sets Saturday. It is the Huskies third sweep in a row.
JUST NOT ENOUGH
The first set was the strongest for the Huskies. NIU jumped out to a 3-0 lead early and it was the biggest lead either team held for the rest of the set. Bowling Green answered back by going on a 5-2 run to tie the score 5-5. The rest of the set was back and forth with 10 tie scores and 5 lead changes.
NIU was efficient at the service line with 4 service aces and stepped up on the front line with 4 total blocks but it wasn’t enough. The Falcons outhit the Huskies with 16 kills on a .414 attack rate to NIUs mark of 9 kills on a .161 rate. The Falcons won the first set 25-23.
In the second set, NIU jumped out to an early lead again, this time 3-1. Bowling Green answered with 3 straight points to take a 1 point lead. The set remained close before reaching a 15-15 tie.
From there, Bowling Green gained momentum and didn’t look back, ending the set on a 10-4 run to close the Huskies out 25-19. NIU fell short of Bowling Green at the service line in the second set with 1 ace to the Falcons 2 and was also outdone in blocks, succumbing to 4 total blocks while posting 1.
In the third set, NIU struggled to gain consistent momentum. The Huskies only scored back to back points twice and were outhit posting 9 kills on a rate of .167 vs the Falcons mark of 20 on a .471 rate. Bowling Green ended the set on a 10-4 run to close the set out 25-17 and secure the match.
NIU volleyball head coach Sondra D’Amore praised her team’s performance amidst the high emotions of senior night but acknowledged that they struggled as the match went on.
“Senior day and I’m really proud of how they performed. There’s always a lot of feelings and hype around this day and I thought they did a good job managing it and playing well,” D’Amore said. “The first set was definitely probably their strongest, we started strong and BG just made some changes throughout the match that we couldn’t really continue to keep up with.”
STANDOUT HUSKIES
Senior libero Crew Hoffmeier led the Huskies in digs with 8 as well as in service aces with 3. Hoffmeier was also third on the team in assists with 5. Hoffmeier is second in the MAC in digs with 468.
Senior middle blocker Charli Atimeo also shined. She led the Huskies with 8 kills and hit at a rate of .467 and contributed at the line with 1 service ace.
Freshman outside hitter Emma McCartney was second on the Huskies in kills with 6 and hit at a rate of .364. Mccartney also chipped in defensively with 4 digs and 2 block assists.
McCartney pointed out Bowling Green’s size and gave credit to learning from her teammates to make the most of her swings.
“I had to shoot high because they were a big block and I learned that from Ava and Nas,” McCartney said. “So just learning from my teammates and taking advice.”
Senior middle blocker Shannon Dunkin was a standout defensively. In her first game played of the season, Dunkin led the team with 6 block assists.
Dunkin emphasized sticking to the basics and trusting the work she’s done in the gym.
“Definitely just studying the setter and everything from a technical standpoint, and just being ready,” Dunkin said. “Trusting training that we do every single day, we do blocking every single day so really just relying on that and working on it.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies continue their season Friday at 5:30 p.m. as they take on the Redhawks of Miami University. Live streaming will be available on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on SIDEARM Sports.
