DEKALB, Ill. – Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) and Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) each had a match-high 17 kills Friday night at the Northern Illinois University volleyball team swept the Akron Zips 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) at Victor E. Court.
 
"I thought our team did a really nice job staying stable against a really solid Akron team that's playing some really good volleyball," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We were able to pull the right points at the right times."
 
Radtke hit .429 with 17 kills, adding 11 digs for her 11^th double-double of the season and fifth in Mid-American Conference play. Wolowicz also had 17 kills, hitting .324 for the match. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) led NIU with 25 assists as Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) added 12. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) had a team-high 16 digs as Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State) and Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) both had a match-high five blocks.
 
Akron (10-8, 2-5 MAC) jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first set after a Megan Kelly kill and a block by Kelly and Alexis Adleta. NIU came back to tie the set 5-5 on a kill by Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard).  The two sides traded points up to 12-12. After a Shelby Fulmer kill put Akron up by one, the Huskies got kills from Wolowicz and Radtke to take a 14-13 lead. NIU grew the lead to two at 19-17 on a Balensiefer ace but Akron erased that deficit with two Kelly kills. With the set tied at 22, NIU took advantage of a pair of Akron errors to earn set point. Radtke put the set away with her seventh kill of the set, giving NIU the first set 25-22. The Huskies hit .382 in the opening set.
 
"It starts with our passing," said Gooden about the offensive display Friday night. "Then it goes to our setting and if we're in system, or even when we're not, Jori and Meg do a good job of putting the ball where it needs to go."
 
NIU (7-15, 5-2 MAC) used a 4-0 run early in the second set to take an 8-6 lead. Wallace had two blocks during that stretch, including a solo block that put the Huskies in front. Akron then tied the match on an Adleta kill and an ace by Taylor Sharrits. The Huskies took back the lead on a Radtke kill, and went up by two at 14-12 on an Akron error. The Zips came back to tie the set five times, including at 23-23 on another Sharrits ace. NIU broke that tie with a Radtke kill, then got a block by Rullan Vilanova and Wallace to win the set 25-23 and go up 2-0 in the match. It was the Huskies' sixth block of the match up to that point.
 
"We work on situations like tonight in practice, trying to win sets after 20," Radtke said. "Once we're past 20, we know we have to turn it on even more to push through and win the set."
 
The two sides traded three-point runs to open the third set, as kills by Radtke and McAlpin tied the set 3-3. NIU went on a 5-0 run, sparked by a McAlpin kill, to take an 11-6 lead. The Huskies' lead grew to six at 13-7 on an ace by Krahl. The Zips closed the gap to two at 13-11 when a Kayla Gwozdz kill capped a 4-0 Akron run. The two sides traded points up to 21-19, when an NIU error and an Akron block tied the set at 21. A Wallace kill then sparked a three-point spurt for NIU, as a block by Rullan Vilanova and McAlpin gave the Huskies match point at 24-21. Akron fought off two match points but a service error gave NIU the third set 25-23 and the match 3-0.
 
NIU is unbeaten on its home floor in MAC play, moving to 4-0 at Victor E. Court in conference. The Huskies hit .278 for the match with nine blocks, while the Zips hit .248 with five blocks. Both teams had 46 digs. Gwozdz led Akron with 13 kills as setter Emily Weigand had 37 assists.
 
The Huskies host Buffalo Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Fans who bring their ticket from the Homecoming football game can get a ticket to the match for $2.
 
--NIU--