Final Stats

DeKALB - The NIU volleyball team (11-10, 7-2 MAC) dropped its second Mid-American Conference match of the season Friday night to end the Huskies five-match winning steak as Kent State (13-10, 7-2 MAC) rallied to win the final three sets, 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 23-25.

The match marked the returns of Mary Grace Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson), who finished with seven and 15 kills, respectively.

Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) led the Huskies with 16 kills while T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) had 15 kills and 17 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Alexis Gonzalez (Fresno, Calif./Bullard) also finished with a double-double as she posted 48 assists and 15 digs.

“Credit to Kent State, it was a really good battle with a really good team. They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. They came out swinging and we did a great job in the first set and parts of the second set but we didn’t have the ability to maintain against it. They kept swinging, punching, digging and scrapping, we were just a step behind it each time we had the chance to climb back each set,” said Head Coach Ray Gooden.

Long rallies in the first two sets defined the match early as each team took advantage of its offensive opportunities.

The Huskies were the aggressor in the opening set as they had three runs with four-or-more points in the set while the Golden Flashes only had one. The NIU offense finished with 16 kills in the first set, hitting an impressive .361, led by Radtke’s six kills and .750 clip in her first appearance since the third set versus Western Kentucky on Sept. 19.

The Golden Flashes responded with vigor in the second stanza, posting two 5-0 runs to outscore the Huskies, 13-3, in the latter stages of the set. Though NIU would respond late to close the gap to two points, 23-21, Kent State would take the frame, 25-21.

Zielinski paced the NIU offense at intermission as she had nine kills with two solo blocks and one assisted. Three of her nine kills broke Kent State serve to put NIU back on the offensive.

The teams traded blows in the third set but the Golden Flashes matched each Huskie point with two of their own to take the set, 25-19. Kent State limited its attacking errors in the set, one, and forced the Huskies into five.

KSU looked to run away with the match in the fourth set, leading 21-16 after overcoming a one-point deficit on its third 5-0 run of the contest. However, an attack by Gonzalez on the second touch mounted a Huskie charge that resulted in NIU taking seven of the next 10 points.

Trailing 24-19, the Huskies broke the Kent State serve and brought the electricity back to Victor E Court as Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) served. A kill by Radtke and a pair of errors, including one forced by Radtke on a long swing, brought the Huskies within one-point, 24-23, but a kill by Kent State’s Kelly Hutchison on the back corner of the line gave KSU the final point and the match, 25-23.

Brereton finished with 14 digs in defense while NIU finished the match with six team blocks. KSU’s Hutchison finished with 20 kills in the match.

The Huskies will return to action tomorrow night as they host MAC leader Ohio at 7 p.m. All fans who attend Saturday’s football game and present their ticket stub at the gate will receive $2 admission to the match.