DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team had to take a series split on Friday after the Akron Zips won 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 26-24) Friday afternoon at Victor E. Court.
Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) led the Huskies with 11 kills, hitting .381 for the match.
Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) added eight kills and hit .438.
Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) led the match with five blocks and had seven kills, hitting .500.
Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had 32 assists as libero
Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) led the match with 18 digs.
"Every team is good enough to win every night in this league," said head coach
Ray Gooden. "We have to continue to realize how tough every night is in the MAC. Akron showed it tonight like we did last night."
Akron (4-10, 4-10 MAC) got out to a 6-3 lead in the opening set on kills from Hannah Yaconis and Jen Durra. The Huskies battled back to tie the set at eight with a 3-0 run capped by a block from Bell and Kemp. The Zips answered NIU's run with a 5-1 run of their own to take a 13-9 lead. Down 20-16, NIU went on a 6-2 run to tie the set 22-22 on a
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) kill. With the set tied at 23, Akron got kills from Teagan Ochaya and Shelby Fulmer to win the set 25-23 and go up 1-0 in the match.
NIU (6-8, 6-8 MAC) took an early 4-3 lead in the second set behind kills from Wallace and Kemp and a Bell solo block. The Zips then went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-4 lead on a block by Yaconis and Ochaya. The Huskies battled back to tie the set at 10 on kills from Jablonski and
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan). With the set tied 11-11, Akron went on an 8-2 run capped by a block from Yaconis and Adleta to take a 19-13 lead. The Zips hit .345 in the second set, holding NIU to a .034 mark to win the set 25-17 and go up 2-0 in the match.
The Huskies led early in set three as kills from Bell, Wallace and Jablonski put NIU up 6-3. An Ochaya kill sparked a 5-1 Zips run that put Akron ahead 9-8. NIU answered back with four of the next five points to take a 12-10 lead. The Huskies led 14-13 when an Alexis Adleta kill started a 5-1 Akron run that gave the Zips an 18-15 lead. Trailing 22-19, NIU went on a 5-1 run as a
Brianna Scuric (East Troy, Wis./East Troy) kill put the Huskies ahead 24-23 with their first set point of the match. Akron came back and took the set 26-24 as a Taylor Kruzovich ace capped the set and the match.
Akron hit .324 for the match as NIU hit .226. The Zips held a 40-37 advantage in digs as the Huskies held a slim 8.0-7.0 edge in blocks. Adleta led all players with 18 kills and a .516 hitting percentage.
NIU now goes on the road for five of its next six matches, beginning next weekend at Buffalo. The Huskies' two-match series with the Bulls begins Friday, March 12 at 5 p.m.
--NIU--
