Box Score DeKALB, Ill. - Bradley came up short in its first road match of the season Tuesday night at Northern Illinois, falling to the Huskies 25-14, 25-17, 25-15. The Braves dropped to 2-2 on the season with the loss.
Senior Caitlin Staib (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) led the Braves offensive attack with six kills. The Huskies (5-0 overall) limited Bradley to an .077 attack percentage, while attacking at a .318 clip. NIU also served up eight aces in the three-set victory against the Braves.
Bradley trailed 19-14 in the opening set when NIU's Allison McGlaughlin had two kills and an ace to highlight a 6-0 Huskies' spurt to end the set. Northern Illinois hit .519 in the first set en route to a 25-14 win.
Justine Schepler helped Northern Illinois break open the second set with four consecutive aces. The Braves were behind 9-5, when Schepler's four straight aces pushed the NIU advantage to 13-5. Bradley would pull to within five points but couldn't hold off NIU, as the Huskies posted at 25-17 second-set victory.
The Braves scored the first point of the third set, but NIU answered with seven straight points of their own to take an early 7-1 lead. Northern Illinois went on to close out the match with a 25-15 win in the third set.
Bradley returns to action Friday when the Braves open play at the Maryland Invitational in College Park, Md., with a 4 p.m. (CDT) match against Georgetown.
