DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team earned its first win of the 2018 season Tuesday night, sweeping the Milwaukee Panthers 25-15, 25-16, 28-16 at Victor E. Court.
 
"It was good for our group to establish themselves early and win the tough points late," said head coach Ray Gooden following Tuesday night's win. "I thought we did some positive things again tonight. I thought the blocking was good and we scored some big points in transition."
 
Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) and Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) each led the match with 12 kills. Wolowicz added a career-high 10 digs for the second double-double of her career, and first since the 2016 season.  Radtke had nine digs and a career-high four service aces. Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) tied a season-high with seven blocks. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had a match-high 27 assists.
 
NIU (1-3) won the first six points of the match on its way to an 8-2 lead in the first set. Wolowicz put down five kills in her first five attempts of the match, with the fifth giving the Huskies an 18-10 lead. NIU took a nine-point lead at 21-12 on a Kennedy Shelley (Burlington, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) ace. The Huskies held the Panthers to a .000 hitting percentage in the opening set, as a block by Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) and Angie Gromos (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) gave NIU the opening set 25-15.
 
The Huskies jumped out to another fast start in the second, taking a 9-2 lead after back-to-back kills by Kemp and Balensiefer. Radtke added three aces in that opening spurt as well.
 
"Getting out to a run like that helps us keep momentum high, instead of using so much effort to chase," Gooden said about the Huskies' fast starts in the first two sets. "We're putting ourselves in a spot to get better and better."
 
Milwaukee closed the deficit to four at 13-9 on a kill by Kleja Cerniauskaite, but three straight Huskie points put NIU ahead by seven 16-9. NIU took its largest lead of the set at 21-11 when a Wolowicz kill capped a 4-0 run for the Huskies. For the second straight set, NIU held the Panthers to a .000 hitting mark and took the set 25-16 to go up 2-0 in the match.
 
Milwaukee (0-4) had the early momentum in the third, opening the set on a 6-2 run capped by a solo block from Kylie Wilks. NIU responded by taking eight of the next 11 points, using a Gromos kill and an ace from Destiny Deyro (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) to take a 10-9 lead.  The Huskies led 13-12 when an Abby Koenen kill kickstarted a quick 3-0 Milwaukee run that put the Panthers ahead 15-13. NIU came back to tie the set six different times late in the set, none bigger than at 24-22. With Milwaukee holding two set points, Radtke put down a kill to make it 24-23. The Panthers then had an error that tied the set at 24-24. At 26-26, Kemp and Wolowicz combined to block Koenen to give NIU its second match point. NIU converted it to win the set 28-26, as a Wolowicz kill secured the sweep.
 
"The third set showed we can finish," said Wolowicz. "Last weekend, we were good in spots. Tonight we put it all together and that, overall, is what we needed heading into the weekend."
 
The Huskies held Milwaukee to a .057 hitting percentage on the night while hitting .226 themselves. NIU held the advantage in both digs at 52-42, and blocks 9.0-4.0.
 
NIU wraps up their season-opening homestand this weekend with the Holiday Inn Express Invitational Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. The Huskies will take on Nevada on Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m., Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. and Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m.
 
--NIU--