Sept. 18, 2010

Final Stats

Final Box

DeKALB, Ill. - Eager to get back on the court after its first loss of the season on Tuesday, nothing could stand in the way of the Northern Illinois volleyball team on Saturday afternoon. Not even a power outage that forced the match to be played at the NIU Student Recreation Center, instead of the Convocation Center's Victor E. Court.

Seven minutes prior to the first serve, parts of DeKalb suffered a power outage and "The Dog House" went completely black and silent for a few seconds before the Convocation Center's back-up generator kicked on, providing a dim light. Officials Rod Rodriguez and Daniel Wong deemed the light insufficient enough for a safe match. Arrangements were then made to relocate the event to the rec center and the match started two hours after its originally scheduled 1 p.m. CT start time.

"It's not always how you plan it, sometimes it's a little out of our control," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "I appreciate Youngstown State understanding, and our fans that were there, along with our kids, for being flexible."

In the new location, the Huskies had to quickly adjust to a playing environment that included a lack of "feel" with no music, public address announcer, and two small scoreboards. However, 154 fans still managed to make their way in and made their presence felt.

"Even though it wasn't our home court, we still felt at home," said Gooden. "It's ironic that the size of the court was similar to that of Elon, where we played earlier this season. All of our players are familiar with the rec center because they played there either during spring practice or during the summer for camp. Even without the confines of Victor E., we still felt the energy of our crowd."

The Huskies did not seem frazzled by the unexpected change in venue, nor did they show any ill effects from the end of their school-record 11-match winning streak to start the season. NIU soundly went about its business by sweeping Youngstown State, 25-21, 25-15, 25-18, in 1 hour and six minutes -- about an hour less than it took to get the match started.

NIU (12-1) dominated the Penguins (2-11) in just about every statistical category by holding an edge in kills (43-26), hitting percentage (.312-.067), assists (41-24), aces (3-2), digs (40-32), blocks (8-4), and points (54-32).

"I thought at times we did the things we were looking to do," said Gooden. "We did a good job of communicating and being more aggressive with our play. It was a full team effort. We got contributions from many parts of the team today."

Freshman outside hitter Lauren Wicinski (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) led the Huskies with 15 kills, while also totaling a .310 hitting percentage, seven digs, and two blocks. Junior setter Kristin Hoffman (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) had a well-rounded performance with 21 assists, four digs, two aces, one kill, and a solo block. Freshman middle blocker Sarah Angelos (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) posted a team-best .462 hitting percentage in getting seven kills, adding three blocks to boot. In taking over near the end of the second set, freshman setter Kayla Zeno (Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater Area) tied a season-high total of 15 assists, while setting high marks for digs (6) and blocks (3). Sophomore defensive specialist Sue Hayes (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mother McAuley) tallied a team-high nine digs.

Both of Hoffman's aces came in back-to-back fashion to cap an 8-3 run in the first set, giving NIU a 15-10 lead that would help win the set. In the second set, the Huskies found their groove, opening a 13-4 lead with help from two kills by sophomore middle blocker Mary Kurisch (LaCrosse, Wis./West Salem). Also fueling the run were nine errors by the Penguins, which allowed NIU to easily claim take a 2-0 advantage in the match. To come out victorious in the final stanza, the Huskies broke a 10-10 tie with a 15-8 spurt to end the contest. Five Wicinski kills highlighted the run.

With the win, NIU improved to 6-1 at home in 2010 and 82-49 at home under Gooden. Additionally, the Huskies stayed undefeated in the all-time, five-match series against Youngstown State.

The Huskies will return to Victor E. Court tomorrow in a rare Sunday match against Iowa (5-3) at 3 p.m. CT.