Final Stats

AKRON, Ohio - The NIU volleyball team won its third-straight conference road game Friday night as the Huskies (10-9, 6-1 MAC) swept Akron (7-13, 1-6 MAC) in straight-sets, 25-21, 25-19, 25-13. With three service aces and 25 assists in the game, senior Alexis Gonzalez (Fresno, Calif./Bullard) moved up to second all-time in career assists, surpassing former All-American Kristin Hoffman (2008-11).

T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) led the NIU attack with 13 kills, hitting .206 in the contest while Taylor Krage (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) registered seven kills off the bench, hitting .600.

In defense, Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) totaled a career-high eight blocks, two solo, and Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sn Prairie) continued her consistent play with 14 digs.

“Akron played hard tonight and did a good job of keeping us off balance and we were very thankful that we were able to put together a number of positive runs to take the first two sets,” said Head Coach Ray Gooden. “Our team was determined coming out of the break to be successful and they finished strong tonight to win in straight sets.”

Gooden was also pleased with the individual performances he saw tonight as well.

“Anna has worked really hard to defend and we’ve seen the flashes of that each night in conference and Chrystal has improved exponentially as the season has progressed and that’s cool to see.”

In the first set, Akron battled tight with the Huskies, tying the match four times and leading twice. Though the Zips hung tight, NIU forced Akron into six attacking errors, taking the set, 25-21. The Huskies finished the frame with 11 kills and nine assists, all of which came from Gonzalez, which tied Hoffman in the NIU annals.

Gonzalez took over the No. 2 spot as the Huskies mounted a charge to overcome their 5-3 deficit. A kill by Krage brought the Huskies back within one point, 5-4, moved the senior to the top of the career assist chart in rally scoring era (1999-present).

“Pookie would say she is thankful for all the kills her teammates have had when it comes to the assists,” said Gooden. “It’s a bye product of her teammates and she’d be the first say that. We’re very happy for her, it’s awesome.”

The Huskies would go on to take a 13-6 lead in the second set and would lead by as much as seven before taking the frame, 25-19.

Northern Illinois University closed out the match strong as it led the final set by 10 points late, 21-11, and increased that lead to 12 at the end of the match, 25-13.

The NIU defense forced the Zips to an attacking percentage of .118 in the match, including a .000 clip in the final set. Akron finished with 24 attacking errors in three sets. The Huskies finished with eight blocks and out-dug UA, 31-20, and hit .237 as team with 31 kills.

NIU will close the weekend at Buffalo tomorrow evening, taking on the Bulls with first serve set for 6 p.m. Central at Alumni Arena.