Women's Volleyball | November 20
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team will put its five-match winning streak on the line Sunday night when it faces the Ohio Bobcats in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship, hosted by Ball State. First serve from Worthen Arena is set for 6 p.m. with the match being televised on ESPN+.
NIU (16-12) has the second-longest winning streak in the conference entering the tournament after a 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19) win over Western Michigan Wednesday night at Victor E. Court. The Huskies swept the MAC West weekly awards on Friday after the victory over the Broncos. Freshmen
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) and
Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) earned Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors with
Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) earning Setter of the Week.
The Huskies have dropped just four sets during their current winning streak. NIU has held its opponents to a .158 hitting percentage over the last five matches, led by Bertucci's 6.53 digs per set. She had 39 digs in the win over Western Michigan, tied for fifth-most in a single match in NIU volleyball history. It was the second-most in a four-set match by any Division I player in the country.
Bertucci was one of three Huskies to earn All-MAC honors on Saturday. She was selected to the MAC All-Freshman Team along with Atiemo, making the duo NIU's first All-Freshman Team honorees since 2017. Bertucci is fifth in the MAC with 4.84 digs per set and has averaged over 5.5 digs per set in conference play. Atiemo is among the top-10 in the MAC in hitting percentage at .317 and is second on the team in blocks. Junior outside hitter
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team. Jablonski is fourth in the MAC in points per set and eighth in kills per set at 3.28. She has 13 double-doubles on the year and is second on the team with 3.11 digs per set.
Ohio (11-17) is the third-seed in the conference tournament. The Bobcats went 11-7 in league play, going 5-2 down the stretch. Ohio had three players selected to the All-MAC teams in First-Teamers Caroline Clippard and Maggie Nedoma and Second Team selection Sam Steele. Clippard is seventh in the MAC in kills with 3.34 per set. Steele is second in the conference with 5.29 digs per set. The Bobcats are the last team to defeat NIU this season with a 3-0 win at Victor E. Court on Oct. 30. NIU and Ohio met the last time the Huskies qualified for the MAC Tournament in the 2018 season.
The winner of the NIU/Ohio match will take on second-seeded Bowling Green in the semifinals Monday night at 6 p.m. CT.
--NIU--
