Sept. 12, 2014

Final Stats

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Northern Illinois University volleyball team kicked off their stay in Kentucky Friday morning with a commanding 3-0 sweep of Morehead State.
 
The Huskies topped the Eagles in most every statistical category, including attack percentage (.268-.108), kills (35-21), digs (39-32) and service aces (10-5). The win was also the first time that NIU held an opponent under 20 points in all three sets since Oct. 26, 2013.
 
"It started with the serving," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "I thought we did a good job there and I thought we did a good job of stringing positive points together. We'd have a run of five six here and four or five there. We got off to a slow start in the first set, but we found ways to have positive runs in each set."
 
MSU gained the early advantage, taking advantage of some early Huskie errors to move out to a 6-3 lead. That lead was short-lived, though, as NIU stormed back, using kills from Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson), Mary Grace Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) as part of a 6-0 run to claim a 9-6 lead. The Eagles tried to keep things close, but another 5-0 run pushed the Huskie lead to 18-11 en route to a 25-16 opening set triumph.
 
The hosts again grabbed a quick lead in the second set, turning NIU miscues into a 5-2 lead. Yet, NIU responded in a major way with a 14-1 run to claim a 16-6 edge. That monster rally was more than enough for the Huskies, as they coasted to a 25-14 second set win to go into halftime with a two-sets-to-none lead. In just the second set, NIU posted a .364 attack percentage and four service aces, while holding the Eagles to a .053 average.
 
"Again, it started with our serve," Gooden said about NIU keeping the MSU offense in check. "We got our serve and put them under a lot of pressure, so they were in a lot of one-point faster situations. That really helped us out a lot because we knew their strengths was their middles. It was nice to slow them down, which led to us being able to score points on our side."
 
NIU avoided an early deficit in the third with a quick 7-4 advantage behind kills from Zielinski, Mackenzie Roddy (San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon), Emily Paschke (Winfield, Ill./West Chicago Community) and T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central). However, MSU methodically got back into things and forged an 11-11 deadlock. Roddy put NIU back in the lead with a kill and ace that - coupled with a Zielinski spike and a Eagle error - put the Huskies ahead, 16-12. That run put the Huskies up for good, as they cruised to a  25-16 set win.
 
Roddy led the offense with nine kills, while Radtke and Kelly chipped in seven and six spikes, respectively, and Alexis Gonzalez (Fresno, Calif./Bullard) registered 22 assists. Defensively, Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) had 12 digs and Radtke collected two blocks.
 
NIU returns to the court later this afternoon when they clash with #15 Arizona State. The match starts at 4 p.m. between the Huskies and Sun Devils.