The Eastern Michigan women’s volleyball team broke their five-match losing streak Sept. 22, when they defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies in straight sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-19). Senior outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello led the way with 14 kills and 11 digs. Freshman Sierra Reed also had a good performance with 17 digs, which was a match high.
In the first set, the Eagles got off to a fast start, scoring nine of the set’s first 11 points. Senior Kristen Baker led the attack with two kills. NIU mounted a brief comeback, leading at one point by a score of 18-17. The rest of the set was all EMU, as they cruised to a 25-22 victory.
The second set was all Eagles. After NIU tied it 1-1, EMU retook the lead and never looked back. Led by Iaquaniello and Baker, who each had four kills in the set, the team was able to easily win by a score of 25-19.
The third set was a little closer early on. The score was back and forth until EMU took the lead 8-7, on a service error by NIU’s Natalie Folk. From then on, the Eagles took control of the rest of the game. Iaquaniello had five kills, and freshman outside hitter Stacey Perinar had two key kills late in the set; the duo led the Eagles to a 25-19 victory, taking the match three sets to none.
With this win, the Eagles improved to 11-7 on the year. The win also marked their first conference win of the season. Their next match will be Sept. 27 when the team travels to Mount Pleasant to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas. The match starts at 7 p.m.
