AKRON, OHIO – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team held the Akron Zips to a .111 hitting percentage Friday night in a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-14, 25-20) victory at James A. Rhodes Arena.
 
"We did what we needed to do tonight," said head coach Ray Gooden. "That was have a good start, play solid volleyball and get a good win on the road. Tonight's match was a defensive battle on both sides. When we started to settle down and put pressure on Akron, I thought we did a better job of managing our side."
 
Junior outside hitter Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led the Huskies and all players in the match with 16 kills, adding six digs. Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) and Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) both had 10 kills and hit over .300.  The Huskies had three players with double-digit digs. Freshman libero Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) led all players with 24 digs. Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) had 12 digs and Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ill./McCutcheon) had a double-double on the night with 38 assists and 13 digs.
 
NIU (12-12, 6-8 MAC) got off to a fast start, getting kills from Jablonski, Mihacevich and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) to take a 5-0 lead in the opening set. Akron used a 6-1 run later in the set to tie it at 11. The Huskies broke a 15-15 tie with a Zips service error and a Jablonski kill to take a 17-15 lead. NIU's lead grew to five when a Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) kill capped a 5-1 run that made the score 23-18. The Huskies hung on to win the set 25-23 on Jablonski's seventh kill of the set.
 
"Katie did a good job from an attack perspective and also from the serving line," Gooden said. "It was good to see her get back into a good rhythm. She did a really good job of helping us through tough spots, keeping the ball in play on some crazy rallies."
 
Akron (10-16, 4-10 MAC) built a 10-6 lead to start the second. A Mihacevich kill sparked a 5-0 NIU run that put the Huskies ahead 11-10. The Huskies grew the lead to three at 17-14 on a Jablonski ace. The Zips used a 5-1 run late in the set to take a 23-21 lead on an Emily Weigand ace. NIU answered with kills from Balensiefer and Mihacevich to tie the set at 23. The Zips won the final two points of the set on a Teagan Ochaya kill and a block by Faith Johnson and Karleighana Jones to win it 25-23 and tie the match at one set apiece.
 
The Huskies took back the momentum to start the third set, winning six of the first nine points highlighted by a pair of Atiemo kills. Akron closed within one at 9-8 but kills by Atiemo and Mihacevich, along with Akron errors, gave NIU a 12-8 lead. The Huskies used a 7-1 run, punctuated by a Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) solo block, to take a 20-12 lead. NIU held Akron to a .000 hitting percentage in the set to cruise to a 25-14 win and a 2-1 lead.
 
The offense continued to keep the foot on the gas to start the fourth set. NIU opened the set on a 10-4 run, getting aces from Mihacevich and Balensiefer and kills from Bell, Kemp and Jablonski. The lead grew to nine at 18-9 win an Atiemo kill capped a 4-0 run. Akron had one last rally, getting within three at 23-20 on an Ochaya kill. An error gave NIU set and match point at 24-20 and it didn't take long for the Huskies to convert. Jablonski's 16^th kill of the night clinched the match victory for NIU, giving the Huskies a 25-20 win in set four and a 3-1 win in the match.  
 
The win, paired with losses by Central Michigan and Kent State, put NIU alone in sixth place in the Mid-American Conference and puts the Huskies as the last team into the MAC Tournament with four matches to play. For the third time in five matches, NIU held its opponent to a hitting percentage under .200. The Huskies held a 66-55 edge in digs and had eight aces to Akron's four. Alexis Adleta led the Zips with 14 kills.
 
The two teams wrap up their series on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
--NIU--