Sept. 12, 2008

NIU 3, Towson 0 Final Stats

NIU 3, Loyola 0 Final Stats

NIU 3, Towson 0 Final Box

NIU 3, Loyola 0 Final Box

DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois volleyball team capped off its earlier 3-0 win over Towson (6-3) with a 3-0 victory over previously unbeaten Loyola Chicago (8-1) on Friday night. The Huskies (5-5) beat Towson, 25-21, 25-20, 25-14, and took down Loyola, 25-22, 25-17, 25-14 in front of an excited crowd and NIU band as the Huskies improved to 4-1 at home in 2008.

"It was nice to be back at home," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "We did a really nice job as a whole in maximizing our potential tonight. It was nice to see us have a good first match against Towson and then have an even better match against Loyola.

"The atmosphere was wonderful. On a Friday, to have this type of energetic crowd with the NIU staff in full support and the band coming in and rocking it like we know them to do, it helped set the tone for the Loyola match tonight. I give Big kudos to the band tonight."

In both matches combined, the Huskies managed to out-hit their opponents .361 to .162, while also tallying more blocks, 16 to seven, leading to NIU's 106 points compared to 84 by opponents.

"A lot of that was created by our serve pressure and blocking," Gooden said. "We served where we needed to tonight and that helped keep the opponents from running the offense that they wanted to run. We were then able to score points in transition and take advantage of 16 blocks."

Junior Meagan Schoenrock (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) was dominant as she led the Huskies with 31 combined kills (18 vs. Towson, 13 vs. Loyola), and hit .500 on the day.

"Meagan had a great day," said Gooden. "She came out and put together some solid matches offensively. She also did a good job of blocking and digging. She really stepped up and helped us be successful, but she was really just one part of it. A lot of people had good days today."

Two other Huskies also had solid offensive days as freshman Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton) totaled 20 kills, hitting .333, and senior Irene Johnson (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) notched 14 putaways.

Junior Amanda Tadla (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) tallied 66 assists and added three aces along with a kill as she efficiently ran the NIU offense all day long.

On the defensive side, senior Katie Walsh (St. Charles, Ill./North) and junior Cassie Yates (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) each registered eight blocks. Yates also had 11 kills and a .310 attack percentage.

"I know the middles have really been working to be better," Gooden said. "They combined to have a really good day. Each has their own strengths, but both came in today with their minds on blocking and it really helped us today. In addition to how well each blocked, Katie did a good job of setting and Cassie did a good job attacking the ball."

Sophomore Maddie Hughes (St. Charles, Ill./North) led the team in digs with 25. Seniors Maria Benitez (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln) and Jody Hardwick (Crystal Lake, Ill./South/St. Louis) each had 14 and seven digs, respectively.

"Monica Lang, Jody and Maria did an outstanding job today in their roles," said Gooden. "They did a great job of serving, passing and playing defense. Unfortunately, they go unnoticed a lot of times, but they were big factors tonight."

The Huskies will be back at Victor E. Court for two more matches tomorrow as they take on Fairfield (2-6) at 2 p.m. and Bradley (3-5) at 7 p.m. Both matches can be followed live on GameTracker via www.niuhuskies.com.