DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team hit a season-high .354 Friday night to defeat the Kent State Golden Flashes 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 25-18) at Victor E. Court.
 
Freshman Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) led the Huskies with 16 kills and hit a season-high .464. Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) added 11 kills and hit .296. Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) hit a match-high .600 with 10 kills and two blocks. Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) led the match with five blocks and hit .375.
 
"We played with some good energy tonight," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We did a lot of good team things and communicated well together. We pushed through some tough moments and played hard. I thought we did a nice job putting pressure on them from the service line late in the match."
 
NIU (7-16, 4-5 MAC) chipped away at an early 8-2 Kent State lead in the first set to get the score to 13-11, where a block by Wallace and Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) capped a 3-0 Huskies run to get them within two. After the Golden Flashes extended the lead to four at 18-14, NIU won nine of the next 13 points to take a 23-22 lead on back-to-back kills from Tilly and Bell. The two sides traded points up to 24-24. Bell gave NIU the first set with back-to-back kills to give the Huskies the opening set 26-24. NIU hit .429 in the first frame with Bell putting down eight kills to hit .800.
 
"We came in and were energized with every hit," said Bell. "We just felt that passion and grew confident that we were going to take the set."
 
Kent State (10-11, 3-6 MAC) jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the second set powered by a 4-0 run that featured two Danie Tyson Kills. NIU closed the gap to two at 7-5, but a Myla King kill sparked a 9-2 Golden Flashes run that put the visitors ahead 16-7. The Huskies got as close as five points late in the set when a Balensiefer ace and a kill from Bell made the score 21-16. However, the Golden Flashes shut down NIU's offense in the set, holding the Huskies to a .083 mark in taking the set 25-19 to tie the match at one set each.
 
It was the Huskies that took the early lead in the third set, going up 5-3 on kills by Tilly and Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy). A service error helped start a 5-1 Kent State run as kills by Savannah Matthews and Alex Haffner put the Golden Flashes ahead 8-6. Kent State led 13-11 when NIU went on a 6-2 run, highlighted by aces from Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) and Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia), to take a 17-15 lead. The Golden Flashes cut the Huskies' advantage to one at 20-19 on a Haffner ace but that would be Kent State's last point of the set. NIU closed the set on a 5-0 run with Milbrath putting the exclamation point on a 25-20 win with her third kill of the set.
 
NIU kept up the momentum to start the fourth set. The Huskies took a 7-4 lead behind kills from Wallace and Bell and a Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) ace. The lead doubled to six when Juarez's second ace of the match capped a 4-0 run that put NIU ahead 16-10. The Huskies had their best offensive set in the fourth, hitting .542 with 14 kills and just one error. Kent State got as close as four points, but a Bell kill, Wallace ace, and Golden Flashes error gave NIU the set 25-18 and the match 3-1.
 
The Huskies tied a season-high with 10 aces with seven in the third and fourth sets combined. Both teams had 48 digs with Karlen leading the match with 23. NIU held a 7-3 advantage in blocks. Matthews led the match with 17 kills for Kent State.
 
NIU will take on Ohio Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. For Saturday's match, fans can receive $3 tickets by showing their ticket from the NIU Homecoming football game at the box office. Kids age 13 and under can receive $2 tickets when they come to the match in their Halloween costume. Tickets are on sale now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
 
--NIU--