The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Come Up Short at NIU, 3-1
November 10 | Women's Volleyball
DeKALB, Ill. - The University of Akron volleyball team snapped a
42-game losing streak with a 30-26 win in game one, but it could
not pull off the match victory, falling 30-26, 22-30, 20-30, 26-30
to Northern Illinois Friday night at the Convocation Center in
DeKalb, Ill.
Akron falls to 7-22 overall, 1-14 in Mid-American Conference play.
The Zips wrap up the regular season tomorrow night at Western
Michigan.
The Zips' 30-26 victory in game one was its first game win since
game five of a 3-2 victory over Kent State on Sept. 21. The
back-and-forth affair was tied several times in the early stages,
with the Zips taking a 12-10 lead before Northern Illinois (19-8,
12-3 MAC) came back to knot things up.
Back-to-back kills by
Elizabeth Martin (Lowell,
Ind./Lowell) and
Brittany Fox (Toledo,
Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) gave Akron a 19-16 lead, but it would not
hold as the two teams continued to exchange points and Northern
Illinois came back to match the Zips at 26. That would spur the
winning push for the Zips as they reeled off four-straight points,
led by a pair of kills from Fox, to take the game.
The Zips struggles at the net were exposed as they finished with a
.024 attack percentage in game two's 30-22 loss.
Colleen Dryja's (Brunswick,
Ohio/Brunswick) kill tied the game at 8-all, but NIU would rattle
off five-straight points to take a 13-8 lead it would not
relinquish.
Akron rebounded in game three with 12 kills, led by four from
Dryja, but the Huskies came up with their best effort of the match
with 19 kills and just six errors for a 30-20 win.
Game four saw Akron jump out to an early 4-1 lead, but NIU came
back to tie things up at 8-all before taking control of the match
with an 11-6 run.
Freshman
Brionna Patterson
(Sandusky, Ohio/Sandusky) nearly matched her season high with 18
kills to lead the Akron attack, while freshman
Megan Rodriguez (Sagamore
Hills, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) set a new season mark with 23 digs.
