DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team will host its second tournament of the 2018 season this weekend as Nevada, Virginia, and Northern Kentucky come to Victor E. Court for the Holiday Inn Express Invitational.
 
On Tuesday night, NIU earned its first win of the season with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 28-26) sweep of the Milwaukee Panthers. Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) and Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) led the match with 12 kills each. Radtke added a career-high four service aces, while Wolowicz had a career-high 11 digs for her second career double-double. NIU had nine blocks in the match and held the Panthers to a .057 hitting percentage.
 
"It was nice for us to put together a complete match," said head coach Ray Gooden. "The first two sets, we did a nice job of controlling what we could control. In the third, we started to tail off a little bit but credit to Milwaukee for continuing to push us. We have to understand that whatever side you're on, you have to continue to play until its done."
 
The Huskies' block has been a strength early in the 2018 season. NIU is second in the Mid-American Conference in blocks, averaging 2.44 per set. Freshman Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) is averaging 1.31 blocks per set, second-best in the MAC. She has had seven blocks in each of her last two matches.
 
Nevada and Northern Kentucky each come to DeKalb this weekend with 2-1 records. The Wolf Pack beat both Northern Arizona and Holy Cross last Friday at the UC Davis Invitational, but lost to the host Wolf Pack. The Norse won its first two matches at the Golden Dome Invitational at Notre Dame against Toledo and Weber State before a loss to Notre Dame. Virginia played three competitive matches at the Iowa State Challenge but came out on the wrong side of four-set matches against the #21 Cyclones and Ole Miss and a five-set match against Oregon State.
 
"The three teams we're playing this weekend played against great teams," Gooden added. "They had battles across the board in every category. For us, it's about continuing to find where our strengths are. We did an o.k. job getting kills where we have struggled in the past. We continue to improve blocking, and we've done a good job at the service line. Now we just have to stay consistent."
 
NIU is offering faculty and staff $5 day passes for the matches on Friday and Saturday. Faculty and Staff can purchase up to two tickets per day for this weekend's tournament. The Huskies take on Nevada on Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. before matches against Virginia and Northern Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.
 
--NIU--