Final Stats |  Photo Gallery  | Gooden Postmatch | Gonzalez Postmatch

NIU 3, Miami 1 

ATHENS, Ohio - The NIU volleyball team (19-10) battled for four sets with Miami University (22-10), overcoming late deficits in each of its three set victories to advance to its first Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship since 2012. The Huskies won all of its sets in deuce, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23, and will face either No. 2 Ohio or No. 3 Kent State Sunday night.

NIU amassed 107 digs in the match as Malia Gabel (Pinckney, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) and T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) finished with career-highs of 21 and 23, respectively. Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) totaled 30 digs to lead the Huskies while Alexis Gonzalez (Fresno, Calif./Bullard) and Paige Dacanay (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) also finished in double digits.

Both Austin and Gonzalez tallied their seventh double-doubles of the season as Austin added 13 kills and Gonzalez accrued 47 assists, moving her into MAC’s top-10 in career assists. Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) led NIU with 14 kills while adding four blocks. Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) led NIU in stops with five, including two solo. Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) finished with nine kills and four blocks.

“We did a great job of battling the entire night and this win is a credit to our team. Everyone played a huge part in this win,” said Head Coach Ray Gooden. “This team overcame a lot tonight in terms of deficits. They don’t know (how large it was), they just know when they need to stop runs and regain momentum and they did a great job of battling back tonight: getting blocks, getting digs and playing hard.”

The Huskies took an early three point advantage, 5-2, before each began trading points. Miami took its first lead halfway through the set, 14-13, before the Huskies battled back with a 3-0 run and gave themselves a two-point advantage.

Miami accounted for a 3-0 run of its own, tying the stanza in the final embers, 20-20 Trading errors and kills, Mary Grace Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) emerged as the Huskies hero as she finished the set off with two kills, including the set winner to give NIU the early 1-0 edge in deuce, 25-23. Kelly closed with four kills while Zielinski led with five kills in the stanza.

Finishing the opening set with 12 assists, Gonzalez passed Ohio’s Briana Adamovsky for No. 10 all-time in conference history in assists. Gonzalez is the only Huskie to appear on that list. She is No. 2 all-time in career assists at NIU with 4,809.

Austin, Radtke and Wolowicz charged in the start of the second set as they combined for the Huskies first 11 points, including four each from Austin and Radtke, to give the Huskies an 11-5 advantage. The Redhawks rallied to take a late lead and never relinquished to tie the match one set each, 25-20.

The Huskies exciting play in the third frame gave the feel of Victor E. Court at Ohio’s Convocation Center as the Huskies rallied back from an early four point deficit, 13-9. A pair of kills by Zielinski and solo block by Austin put the Huskies in position for the set, 24-22. Though the Redhawks tallied one last kill, Austin finished it off with a kill, 25-23, to put NIU back in the lead, 2-1.

In the set, Northern Illinois University found itself trailing early as it collected seven errors, trailing 16-11. A kill by Radtke sparked the Huskies and took Miami off its track as it committed four-straight errors to tie the match, 16-16.

As each team traded blows, the Redhawks set themselves apart late, taking a two point lead, 23-21. Austin led the final charge by NIU that amounted to a 4-0 run, as she spiked the ball down to the middle of the court, 23-22. An MU error tied the contest and forced a Redhawk timeout, however, that did not stop the Huskies as Zielinski accumulated her 14th kill of the match, 24-22.

An attacking error by Miami sealed the match for NIU, 25-23, advancing the Huskies to their first MAC Tournament Championship since 2012. Each team combined for 10 errors and 58 attacking errors in the match.

NIU will play the winner of tonight’s Ohio-Kent State semifinal match on ESPN3 Sunday, November 22. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.