DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team rallied from a set down Saturday night to defeat the Ohio Bobcats 3-1 (13-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-17) and sweep its weekend homestand at Victor E. Court.
 
"We had to understand how important it was for either team to come out and get the win," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We needed to compete against a really good team. I thought we did a nice job in the second set, winning a tough one, and the same in the third."
 
Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) led all players in the match with 15 kills, hitting .464 with a team-high five blocks. Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) hit a match-high .526 with 11 kills and just one error. Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) added 11 kills as well. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had a double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs.
 
"Jasmine continues to learn how to be at the level she's aspiring to be, to be one of the top players in our league," Gooden said. "It was great for our team to be able to put her in spots so she was able to find success tonight."
 
"We had good passes and good connections with our setters, and it worked out really well and helped out our offense a lot," added Kemp.
 
Ohio (13-10, 5-5 MAC) came out firing to start the match, taking a 9-4 lead on a block by Dahlias Bouyer and Vera Giacomazzi. The Bobcats used a 6-1 run, highlighted by a pair of aces from Emma Tupa, to take a 17-9 lead. Ohio hit .419 in the opening set and held NIU to .074 in winning the first set 25-13.
 
NIU (8-16, 5-5 MAC) jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the second set with a 4-1 run that included a Balensiefer ace and a Bell kill. The Bobcats responded with a 6-1 run capped off by an Olivia Margolies kill to take a 14-13 advantage. NIU quickly came back with four of the next five points, as a Bell kill and a Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) ace made the score 17-15 Huskies. After Ohio tied the set at 17, a Bell kill sparked a 4-0 NIU run to put the hosts up 21-17. Ohio used a 6-1 run to get set point at 24-23 following an NIU error. The two teams then traded two-point spurts with Ohio earning another set point at 26-25 on a block by Margolies and Bouyer. Wallace put down a kill to tie the set at 26, then a Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) kill and a block by Wallace and Balensiefer gave NIU the set 28-26 and tied the match at one set all.
 
The two teams traded points to start the second set, with NIU pulling away with a 3-0 run capped by a Kemp solo block to give the Huskies an 8-6 edge. Ohio came back to tie the set at 12 with a Tia Jimerson kill and a block by Giacomazzi and Bouyer. NIU broke a 17-17 tie with a 3-0 run sparked by a Tilly kill to take a 20-17 lead. The Huskies led 23-21 when the Bobcats got two kills from Lauren Park to tie the set at 23. NIU earned set point on an Ohio service error and quickly cashed in as Kemp put down a kill to give NIU a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-23 win in the set.
 
The Huskies wasted no time taking the lead in the fourth set. Highlighted by four Kemp kills, NIU went on an 8-2 run to go up 13-6. Ohio cut the Huskies' lead to four at 17-13 when a Park kill punctuated a 4-1 Bobcats run. NIU responded by taking the next five points to take a 22-13 lead. The Huskies saved their best offensive set for the last, hitting .394 with just one error while holding Ohio to .086 in winning the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
 
NIU hit .231 for the match as Ohio hit .229. Each team had 64 digs in the match with Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) leading the match with 21. Ohio held an 8-6 advantage in blocks with the Huskies holding in the edge in aces 6-5. Margolies and Park each had 13 kills to lead Ohio.
 
The Huskies go on the road next weekend to take on Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. NIU faces off with Eastern Michigan on Friday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. and Central Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m.
 
--NIU--