Huskies too much for Vikings
Published 11:15 pm Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Visiting Portage Northern cruised to an easy 3-0 Big 16 Conference West Division victory over Niles Wednesday night.
The Vikings appeared to be flat in their 25-13, 25-17 and 25-10 loss to the Huskies.
Niles kept the first two sets close and after Portage Northern opened up a bit of a lead, was able to claw its way back into the match.
The first set was tied at 3-3 before the Huskies went on a 9-3 tear to up their advantage to 12-6. The lead reached 17-9 before Vikings’ coach Linda Martin called for a time out.
Niles rallied coming out of the time out, but could not keep the momentum going and found itself down 20-11.
Portage Northern scored five of the next seven points to win the opening set 25-13.
The second set was a bit more competitive.
After being tied at 2-2 and 6-6, Portage Northern took off and opened up a 10-6 lead before the Vikings called a time out. Niles cut the lead to 14-7 and then whittled it down to 18-14.
The Huskies maintained their focus and pulled away to the 25-17 victory and a 2-0 advantage.
There would be no such comeback in the third and final set.
Niles fell behind 5-2 and was down 12-6 when Martin again called for a stoppage of play to regroup.
The time out didn’t help the Vikings as the Huskies opened up a 15-7 advantage and then took 10 of the next 13 points to earn the sweep.
Portage Northern d. Niles 25-13, 25-17, 25-12
Niles statistics
Kills
Ashley Love 7
Miranda Baker 5
Lashonda Greene 5
Cortney Shirrell 2
Digs
Brea Haines 20
Shirrell 10
Love 9
Assists
Shirrell 17
Blocks
Baker 3