MUNCIE, IN – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team swept its first Mid-American Conference series of the season Friday, defeating the Ball State Cardinals 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) at Worthen Arena for the Huskies' third consecutive win.
 
"For us to find success twice, both sweeps, this weekend says a lot about our group," said head coach Ray Gooden. "It's a team effort. Not only is it about doing things offensively, I think it's our hustle, our relentless pursuit of the ball, and our willingness to fight through a play that helped us in at a traditionally-tough road environment."
 
This is the first time since 2016 NIU has won a season series over the Cardinals. The Huskies hit a season-high .305 in the match with three players hitting .400 or better. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led all players with 14 kills, hitting .400 with 12 digs. Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) hit .500 with 13 kills and a team-high four blocks. JoDee Kovanda (Lockport, Ill./West Florida) had double-digit kills for the third time this season with 11 kills and hit .474. Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) dished out 45 assists and added six digs and three blocks.
 
Ball State (5-5, 5-5 MAC) got out to a 6-4 lead in the opening set on kills from Kia Holder, Cailyn Bosler and Cait Snyder. A Jablonski kill started a 5-1 NIU run that put the Huskies ahead 9-7. The Cardinals tied the set at 10 but a block by Kovanda and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) sparked another 5-1 Huskies run that put NIU ahead 15-11. Ball State came back and tied the set at 23 on kills by Marie Plitt and Lauren Gilliland. NIU responded with kills from Jablonski and Kovanda to win the opening set 25-23. The Huskies hit .310 to start the match with Kovanda putting down seven kills on nine attempts with no errors.
 
NIU (4-6, 4-6 MAC) broke a 7-7 tie in the second set with a 6-1 run highlighted by a block from Wallace and Balensiefer to take a 13-8 lead. The advantage grew to eight at 18-10 on a service ace from Kelsy Turskey (Prairie Grove, Ill./Prairie Ridge). The Cardinals cut the lead to three points with a 6-1 run to make the score 19-16. Ball State got as close as one point at 22-21 when a Bell kill put the Huskies ahead 23-21. Wallace then put in back-to-back kills to give NIU the set 25-21 and put the Huskies ahead 2-0 in the match.
 
"In the beginning of the year we were struggling with ends of sets," Gooden said. "I thought this weekend we did a really good job in those endgame situations, playing the play instead of playing the score."
 
The Huskies used a 7-2 run, kickstarted by kills from Jablonski and Kemp, to take an 11-8 lead in the third. NIU led 13-10 when a Natalie Risi kill started a 4-0 Cardinals run that put Ball State ahead 14-13. The Huskies responded with six straight points, two on blocks by Balensiefer and Wallace, to take a 19-14 lead. Ball State got within one point at 20-19, but a Jablonski kill started a three-point run that gave the Huskies a 23-19 lead. NIU hit .294 in the final set, winning it 25-22 to sweep the Cardinals for the second straight match.
 
Friday's win marked the first time since 2001 NIU had back-to-back sweeps of Ball State. NIU held Ball State to a .228 hitting percentage and had a slim 57-56 edge in digs led by Kennedy Shelley's (Burlington, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) match-high 15. Holder led Ball State with 13 kills.
 
NIU begins a two-match series with Miami at Victor E. Court on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m.
 
--NIU--