DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team capped its Huskie Invitational Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19) sweep of the Air Force Falcons at Victor E. Court.
"We did a really good job of serving and passing today," said head coach
Ray Gooden following Saturday's sweep. "We had great opportunities come from our serve and I thought we did a good job handling their tough serve. It was nice to see us put pressure on them with our serve consistently."
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) tied her career-high for aces for the second straight day with four. She also led all players in the match with 10 kills. NIU's middle blocker duo of
Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) combined to hit .448 in the match with 15 kills. Kemp hit .400 with eight kills and four blocks while Atiemo hit .500 with seven kills and a match-high five blocks. Jablonski and Atiemo were both named to the Huskie Invitational All-Tournament Team following the match.
NIU's (2-1) powerful serve was present from the opening point of the match. The Huskies forced four Air Force errors in a 9-3 opening run that included a pair of
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) aces. The lead grew to seven at 11-4 on a Jablonski ace that forced a Falcons timeout. The Huskies took their largest lead of the set at 16-8 following a block by Kemp and Mihacevich. NIU earned set point at 24-16 on a Jablonski kill and took the opening set 25-17 on a Mihacevich kill.
Air Force (0-3) and NIU traded points to start the second set, playing to a 6-6 tie. A Kemp kill broke the tie and started a 3-0 Huskies run to put NIU up 9-6. The Falcons came back and tied the set 11-11 on a Vittoria Juarez kill. With the set tied at 15, Air Force took its first lead of the set since 4-3 when back-to-back kills from Ella Tschuor and Taleah Cooper put the visitors ahead 17-15. Down 20-17, NIU rattled off seen straight points to earn set point at 24-20 after consecutive aces from Jablonski. Air Force fought off one set point, but Atiemo clinched the set with a kill to give NIU a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 win.
A block by Kemp and Mihacevich sparked a 7-3 run to open the third set for the Huskies. The lead grew to seven at 12-5 following a block by Atiemo and
Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) and a Mihacevich ace. NIU led 17-12 when an Aaryn Scires kill kickstarted a 4-0 Air Force run that got the Falcons within one, 17-16. The Huskies answered the Air Force run with a 5-1 run of their own to take a 22-17 lead. Kemp gave NIU match point with a kill to make the score 24-18, and combined with freshman
Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) on a block on match point for a 25-19 set win and 3-0 match victory.
The Huskies held a 10-9 edge in blocks to hold Air Force to a .160 hitting percentage. NIU held the Falcons to a -.027 hitting mark in the final set. Freshman libero
Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) led all players with nine digs.
Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) added eight digs of her own.
NIU goes on the road on Thursday, Sept. 2 to take on the Eastern Illinois Panthers in the first of a home-and-home series next week. First serve at Lantz Arena is at 5 p.m. The Huskies will host the Panthers at Victor E. Court next Saturday night at 6 p.m.
--NIU--
Huskie Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP: Seleisa Elisaia, CSU Bakersfield
Hayley McCluskey, CSU Bakersfield
Brooke Boiseau, CSU Bakersfield
Katie Jablonski, NIU
Charli Atiemo, NIU
Amy Schwem, William & Mary
Julia Brown, William & Mary
Bailey Keith, Air Force
Kennedy Davis, Western Illinois
