DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team ended the season on a high Saturday night (Nov. 11) sweeping Toledo, 25-22, 25-23, 25-17, on Senior Night at Victor E. Court. Freshman Kaylee Martin (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) recorded a match-high 15 kills and 17.5 points. Senior
Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) had a team-best 10 digs and senior
Chandler Kinley (Lexington, Ky./Lafayette) had 30 assists.
The victory would prove bittersweet however as results of matches elsewhere left the Huskies on the outside looking in at the Mid-American Conference Tournament. NIU finished the season with an 8-23 record, 7-9 in conference play.
"I thought we did a nice job of playing team volleyball tonight," said NIU head coach
Ray Gooden. "It was good for us to finish the home part of our season strong. Our first contact was pretty solid tonight, we did a good job with serve receive, I thought we did a good job playing good defense and we had multiple people putting themselves in good spots to score."
Junior
Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) added eight kills and freshman Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) chipped in six.
Toledo (12-16, 7-9 MAC) led the opening set, 10-6, until a 6-1 run pushed the Huskies in front. Radtke started the run with a kill, Martin added a pair of kills and freshman Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) had a service ace as the Huskies moved in front. Leading 14-13, used a 4-1 burst to take a four-point lead. Toledo would cut the Huskie advantage back to one, 20-19, but NIU held off the Rocket to take the opening set, 25-22.
Martin had five kills in the set to lead the Huskies; Saige Thomas collected six kills to lead Toledo.
The Rockets had a three-point advantage, 13-10, in the second set before six-straight from NIU gave the Huskies a 16-13 edge. Toledo pulled back even at 20 and the set was tied again at 23, but a kill from Martin and an error from the Rockets gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead at the intermission.
NIU raced out to a 9-3 lead in the third set, forcing an early timeout from Toledo. The Huskie advantage grew to 16-5 as Martin and Wolowicz each had four kills before the midway point of the set. Toledo cut the Huskie lead in the set back to seven, but never truly threatened as Radtke and junior
Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) finished the sweep with a block as the Huskies took the set, 25-17.
McAlpin had a team-high three blocks for the Huskies.
Thomas led Toledo with 14 kills in the match, Lauren Bakaitis had a match-high 15 digs for the Rockets.
The NIU senior class of
Anna Brereton,
Chandler Kinley and
Taylor Krage finish their careers with 73 victories, three MAC West Division titles (2014, '15, '16), two MAC regular season crowns (2015, '16) and a MAC Tournament championship (2016).
"They have had a pretty positive run, even though the ending is a little bittersweet," Gooden said of his senior class. "But they have been a part of some really special moments for our program and we are thankful for what they have been able to do."
