DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball completed a sweep of its first weekend of Mid-American Conference play Saturday night, defeating the Ball State Cardinals 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21) at Victor E. Court.
 
"We did a real good job defending our home court against the defending division champs," said head coach Ray Gooden. "Even through the ebbs and flows, I thought we did a really nice job of staying together. When we get into the league, everything gets so much more intense. For us to settle down and make the right plays at the right time is just a good step for our group right now."
 
Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) led the match with 17 kills, hitting .271. Jori Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) added 15 kills and 17 digs. Freshman setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had 40 assists as Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led the Huskies with 22 digs. NIU's middle blocker duo of Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and Chrystal McAlpin (Calumet Park, Ill./Shepard) combined for 16 kils and nine blocks.
 
"We know we needed to find more balance and they stepped up," said Gooden about McAlpin and Kemp's contributions Saturday. "Kudos to those guys. There was great stuff from our passers and from our setters to be able to find them and put them in a position to score. Our team needs to be more balanced. The more contributions we can get from everybody, the better we're going to be."
 
Ball State (10-5, 1-1 MAC) opened the match on a 4-0 run, bookended by a pair of Anna Jensen aces. NIU rallied back to take an 8-7 lead on an ace by Kelsy Turskey (Prairie Grove, Ill./Prairie Ridge). The Cardinals took back the lead with a 4-1 run capped by a block by Sydnee VanBeek and Amber Seaman to go up 12-9. NIU trailed 19-17 when a Wolowicz kill sparked a three-point run that put the Huskies ahead 20-19. Karlen got the Huskies their first set point with an ace that put the score at 24-22. NIU eventually won the set 25-23 to take a 1-0 lead.
 
"We finally settled down and realized that we can play with them and be okay," Gooden said of the first set. "We kept gaining confidence and were able to jump out to the lead in the match."
 
After falling behind 3-1 early in the second, NIU (4-13, 2-0 MAC) took a 5-4 lead on a Karlen ace and Radtke kill. The Cardinals tied the set 5-5, but the Huskies then used back-to-back kills by Radtke and Wolowicz as part of a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead. NIU grew its lead to seven at 16-9 on another Radtke kill. Ball State got as close as five, but the Huskies' .333 hitting percentage in the set proved to be too much for the Cardinals. Radtke's sixth kill of the set put NIU up 2-0 in the match with a 25-18 win in set two. Radtke, Wolowicz, and McAlpin combined for 15 kills in the set and a .419 hitting percentage.
 
"This is the volleyball we've been playing all season," said Wolowicz following Saturday night's win. "We're finally putting it together. This is what we wanted from the start. It comes down to our serving, our passing, our defending. Our basics are what's going to carry us and move us forward."
 
The Cardinals came out swinging in the third set, taking a 9-3 lead on three kills from Ellie Dunn. NIU closed to within two at 11-9 on a block by McAlpin and Amanda Rullan Vilanova (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Savannah State). Ball State grew its advantage back out to five at 18-13 on a block by Emily Holland and Meg Starling. A Wolowicz kill kickstarted a 5-0 Huskies run that tied the set at 18-18. The Cardinals then won the next three points to take a 21-18 lead. NIU got as close as two points late, but a VanBeek kill kept Ball State in the match as it was the third set 25-22.
 
NIU took a quick 5-2 lead to start the fourth, getting an ace from Radtke and a kill from Wolowicz. The lead grew to three at 8-5 after kills by McAlpin and Kemp. Ball State got two blocks from VanBeek to tie the set 8-8. NIU then went on a 6-0 run, capped by kills from Kemp and Wolowicz, to take a 14-8 lead.  NIU led by seven at 17-10 after a kill by Balensiefer, which led to a Ball State timeout. Ball State then won nine of the next 12 points as three kills by Jessica Lindsey made the score 20-19. After an NIU timeout, the Huskies won the next four points to earn match point at 24-19. It took two tries, but NIU sealed the match win with a Balensiefer kill to win the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
 
 
NIU hit .194 for the match, holding Ball State to a .190 mark. The Huskies also held a 10-3 advantage in service aces and a 68-65 edge in digs. Dunn led Ball State with 15 kills as Kia Holder added 12. Seaman led the match with 43 assists.
 
The Huskies wrap up their current three-match homestand on Thursday, Sept. 27 with a 7 p.m. match against Western Michigan.
 
--NIU--