Volleyball Falls In Three To Southern Indiana At Midwest Crossover

AURORA, ILL. – The Northwood University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to Southern Indiana to open play at the 2015 Midwest Region Crossover Tournament Friday afternoon (October 16). Set scores were 25-22, 25-20, 25-20.

Northwood falls to 6-12 overall with the loss. USI improves to 12-7 with the win.

The Timberwolves got off to a good start in the opening set, eventually opening up a 20-16 lead. But the Screaming Eagles finished the set strong, scoring six of the final seven points of the set to earn the 1-0 lead. Both teams ended up with solid hitting numbers in the frame – USI hit .235 (14-6-34) while NU ended up at .216 (13-5-37).

The second set proved to be similar to the first, as USI used a big finish to earn the set. The score was tied 15-15 when Southern Indiana rattled off six of the next seven points to go up 21-16. NU got back within three at 22-19 and 23-20, but USI scored the final two points to take a 2-0 lead.  The defenses stepped up on both sides in the set – USI hit .120 (9-6-25) while NU hit .103 (10-7-29).

Unlike the first two sets, the Screaming Eagles used an early run in the third to take control. USI scored four of the first five and 10 of the first 13 overall to earn the advantage. Northwood fought back to cut the lead down to one on two separate occasions (19-18, 20-19), but Southern Indiana scored five of the final six points to earn the win.

For the match, Northwood hit .170 (33-17-94) while USI ended up at .211 (36-17-90).  The Screaming Eagles finished with a 37-32 advantage in digs and a 7-3 edge in blocks

Freshman Colleen Mayer (Troy, Mich./Avondale) led the way for Northwood, finishing with eight kills and a .545 attack percentage.

Northwood returns to action Saturday for a pair of matches to wrap up the Crossover. NU will face William Jewell at 11 a.m. and Illinois-Springfield at 5 p.m.