DEKALB, Ill. – The Ohio volleyball team (13-15, 11-5 MAC) earned a major comeback win over Northern Illinois (11-14, 4-12 MAC), defeating the Huskies in a 3-2 decision (15-25, 12-25, 25-23, 25-22, 18-16) on Saturday, Nov. 8. This win helped Ohio clinched a spot in the 2025 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championships.
Ohio finished with 55 kills, five aces, seven blocks, 47 assists and 59 digs. Northern Illinois finished 52 kills, eight aces, 13 blocks, 44 assists and 61 digs.
Juniors
Gentry Brown (Shadyside, Ohio) and
Emily Waddell (Carmel, Ind.) both led the team with 10 kills each. Brown also finished with two assists, two aces, one block, seven digs and 12.5 points. Waddell also contributed three blocks, two digs and 12.0 points. Juniors
Olivia Gardner (Macomb, Mich.),
Torre Kildow (Bethesda, Ohio) and freshman
Bailey Blair (Louisville, Ky.) all tallied eight kills each for Ohio.
Senior
Kendall White (Gahanna, Ohio) recorded a team-high 30 assists in addition to tallying three kills, three blocks, five digs and 4.5 points. Junior
Kendall Hickey (Fishers, Ind) led Ohio with a team-high 16 digs.
Northern Illinois gained an early 1-0 lead with a 25-15 win in the first set. The Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 with a 25-12 win in the second set.
Ohio started its comeback attempt during the third set. The Bobcats led for most of the set but only by a small amount. Back-to-back kills by Brown and Blair put Ohio at set point. A service error by Northern Illinois handed Ohio its first set win of the night. The Bobcats cut the Huskies' lead to 2-1 with a 25-23 win.
Ohio tied the game at 2-2 with a 25-22 win in the fourth set. The Bobcats found themselves either tied or trailing the Huskies for more than half of the set. A six-point scoring run gave Ohio a 23-19 lead over Northern Illinois. Two straight kills by Kildow forced a fifth set, allowing Ohio a chance to win the game.
Back-to-back errors by Northern Illinois and a klll by Waddell secured Ohio the 18-16 win in the fifth set. Ohio achieved a reverse sweep over Northern Illinois, defeating the Huskies 3-2.
The Bobcats will be back in action when they host Western Michigan on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. ET.
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