AKRON, OHIO - The Northern Illinois University volleyball team completed a weekend sweep of the Akron Zips on Saturday afternoon, sweeping Akron 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-22) to move to 7-8 in Mid-American Conference play.

Freshman middle blocker Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) led NIU with 12 kills, hitting .435 for the match. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) also had a double-double with 38 assists and 13 digs. Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) led the Huskies with 17 digs as Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) added 13.

"The team did a really good job playing well for each other," said head coach Ray Gooden following Saturday's victory. "It was a solid effort against a scrappy team and we had to really grind this one out today."

NIU (13-12, 7-8 MAC) used a three-point run in the first set to take a 10-7 lead on an Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) solo block. The lead grew to six at 18-12 when an Atiemo kill capped a 6-1 Huskies run. The Zips closed within three at 20-17 when Hannah Yaconis and Emily Weigand combined for a block. The two teams traded points the rest of the way with a Jablonski kill giving NIU the opening set 25-21. The Huskies hit .256 in the opening set, holding Akron to just .100.

The second set started much like the first. NIU won the first three points, eventually taking a 6-3 lead on kills from Mihacevich and Jablonski. Akron (10-17, 4-11 MAC) then won the next four points to take a 7-6 lead on a kill from Weigand. Neither side had a lead of more than two points for the remainder of the set, which had 13 ties and 10 lead changes. NIU rallied to take a 16-14 lead on kills from Mihacevich and Atiemo but Akron tied the set at 16 on a block my Megan Kelly and Ellen Kinnaird.

The Huskies took a 23-22 lead late when back-to-back Alexis Adleta kills gave the Zips set point at 24-23. After a timeout, Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) tied the set at 24 with a kill. She then combined with Mihacevich for a block of Adleta that gave the Huskies' set point at 25-24. An Akron error gave NIU the 2-0 lead in the match with a 26-24 win.

"For us to be able to learn from last night and not let Akron back into the match helped us for sure," Gooden said. "We made a good team play that started with a good first contact and that swing helped us tie the set, and then to win that overtime set was really big for our group."

NIU broke an 8-8 tie in the third with a 3-0 run that included a Balensiefer ace and a block by Kemp and Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) that made the score 11-8. The lead grew to five at 15-10 following a Mihacevich kill. Akron made a late charge, getting within two points twice late in the set. NIU earned set and match point at 24-20 on an Atiemo kill but the Zips won the next two points on a Faith Johnson kill and a block to make the score 24-22. Jablonski put the set and the match away with her final kill of the day, giving NIU the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.

The Huskies hit .210 for the match and held the Zips to .115. NIU held a 64-62 edge in digs while Akron had a 9-7 advantage in blocks. Adleta led all players with 13 kills as libero Taylor Sharrits had 20 digs.

NIU returns home for its final homestand of the season, beginning Friday, Nov. 12 with the first of two matches against Buffalo at 6 p.m. at Victor E. Court. Log on to NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7223) for tickets.

—NIU—