Oct. 25, 2008

Final Stats

NIU 3, KSU 1 Final Box

Kent, Ohio - For the first time this season, the Northern Illinois volleyball team notched four players with 10 or more kills in the Huskies' 20-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-21 win over Mid-American Conference opponent Kent State (13-10, 3-7) on Saturday evening at the M.A.C. Center.

Freshman Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton) led the Huskies with a season-high 20 kills, followed by junior Meagan Schoenrock's (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) 15, senior Irene Johnson's (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) 12 and junior Cassie Yates' (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) 10.

"In order for us to beat a team like Kent State at home, we needed this type of performance," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "We really stressed taking care of our side of the court tonight and that included our ability to score points. Having the balance that we did on offense was a testament to the team's level of energy."

A pair of freshmen led the way for the Huskies (14-10, 6-4) as McGlaughlin, in addition to her 20 kills, added 14 digs for her third double-double of the year, while Kristin Hoffman (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) totaled 55 assists and a season-high three aces.

"It was really nice to see Allison and Kristin play really well on both offense and defense," Gooden said.

After dropping the first set, the Huskie stormed back to take the final three, using early leads that NIU was able to maintain. In the second set, the Huskies jumped out to an 11-7 lead after an attack error by Krista Groce. In the third set, NIU had an 8-0 lead after Johnson's block. In the fourth set, the Huskies opened an 8-4 advantage after an ace from senior Katie Walsh (St. Charles, Ill./North).

"We talked a lot about having fast starts tonight because the reason why we lost the first set was due to the slow start that we had," Gooden said. "In the other three sets we had leads from the start and then we were able to finish the set and eventually the match."

As a team, the Huskies registered 62 kills to the Golden Flashes' 45, including a 20-kill second set. NIU also totaled more digs than KSU, 59-49, led by sophomore Maddie Hughes' (St. Charles, Ill./North) 23.

The Huskies return to action on Thursday, October 30 as they face Western Michigan (18-3, 9-1) at 7 p.m. CST in Victor E. Court.