University of Louisville
Northern Illinois
Volleyball Falls to Northern Illinois
September 13, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
"Northern Illinois outplayed us on defense and passed better than us," said UofL head coach Anne Kordes. "At the end of the day it was not a power game but a ball control game. It was not a lack in the will to compete, it was not responding to the pressure and we got tight."
The Cards outhit the Huskies .345 to .254 and outblocked them 10.5-6. Louisville even had 11 aces led by Roxanne McVey's four to NIU's 9.
"What doesn't show up on the stat sheet is passing and that is the most important factor in the match because we could not stay in system," said Kordes. " Credit to Katie George for running all over the court but she can't run an offense like that."
In the first set, UofL zoomed out to a 10-3 lead and sparked an NIU timeout. The Huskies made a push to come within two at 12-10 but the Cards broke open the margin with a 9-2 run and then closed out the set on two NIU errors.
In the second set, there were 18 ties and seven lead changes as both teams were offensively minded. UofL hit .357 to NIU's .364. The Cards were up 22-19 and fell 25-23 as the Huskies rallied late. Maya McClendon had five kills in the second.
After the break, UofL blasted out to a 7-0 lead but the Huskies dug in and made a 9-2 run to get set point. A kill by Tess Clark, her seventh of the match and a deep shot by Maya McClendon gave the Cards the set 26-24 to take a 2-1 set lead.
The Cards fell behind 14-10 in the fourth set but managed to tie six times after that before kill by the NIU setter and an hitting error by the Cards gave the set to the Huskies 26-24 and force a fifth set.
Northern Illinois went up 7-3 early in the final set but Cards had a five point run to tie at 13. Roddy had her 25th kill to get to set and match point before NIU's Anna Brerton ripped an ace for the win.
"I need our back row to step up and pass the ball and take control," said Kordes.
UofL heads to the Rice Invitational in Houston next weekend with Rice, Stephen F. Austin and Texas Southern on tap.
