NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team won its fourth consecutive match Saturday, defeating the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22) at CSU Field House to complete a perfect 3-0 weekend in the Buccaneer Invitational.
Sophomore Ella Miahcevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) and freshman
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) led all players with 16 kills apiece, both career-highs. Senior setter
Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) ran the NIU offense with a season-high 55 assists, adding six digs and an ace. Junior
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led NIU with 19 digs and four aces, which tied career-highs, and also had nine kills.
"Today was another battle on the road," said head coach
Ray Gooden following Saturday's win. "We did a good job handling the tough serve of Charleston Southern and Ella was aggressive and made good decisions when she attacked the ball."
NIU (6-2) opened the match on a 7-2 run, bookended by aces from Mihacevich and
Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville). Charleston Southern chipped away at the Huskies and got within two at 9-7 on a Peyton Thompson kill. The Huskies pulled away behind kills from Mihacevich, Atiemo, and
Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) to take an 18-10 lead. NIU took its largest lead in the set at 23-13 when a pair of
Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) kills put the Huskies up 10. Kemp secured the set with a kill on set point at 24-15, capping a set in which the Huskies hit .370 and held the Buccaneers to .188.
After trading points early and often in the second set, Charleston Southern (3-5) used a 4-0 run punctuated by a Paige Reagor kill to take a 13-9 lead. Down 21-18, a Mihacevich kill sparked a 6-1 NIU run that gave the Huskies set point at 24-22. The Buccaneers quickly responded by winning the final four points to take the second set 26-24 on a Thompson kill to tie the match at 1-1. NIU quickly took the momentum to start the third, taking a 10-4 lead on a block from Balensiefer and Kemp. The lead grew to eight at 15-7 following a Balensiefer ace. The Huskies earned set point on a Mihacevich kill at 24-16. Charleston Southern fought off three set points, but the Huskies got a block from Mihacevich and Kemp to take the set 25-20 and go ahead 2-1 in the match.
The Huskies built an early 6-3 lead in the fourth set behind four kills from Mihacevich and Atiemo. Charleston Southern came back with a four-point run to take an 11-10 lead on a block by Thompson and Indigo Young. With the set tied at 18, Kemp put down a kill to start a 4-0 NIU run that put the Huskies up 22-18. The Buccaneers got as close as two points late in the set, but kills from Jablonski and Atiemo locked up the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
"It's a positive to see us doing good things when we play in the moment," Gooden said. "We're putting together some good wins that are helping us get ready for conference play."
NIU hit .275 for the match, holding Charleston Southern to a .214 hitting mark. The Huskies held a 60-49 advantage in digs and had a season-high 10 aces to the Buccaneers' two. Freshman libero
Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) had 15 digs and four aces on the day. Reagor led Charleston Southern with 14 kills.
The Huskies are home next weekend at Victor E. Court to take on Green Bay and #2 Wisconsin. NIU takes on Green Bay on Thursday, Sept. 16 and Wisconsin on Saturday, Sept. 18. Both matches are set for 6 p.m. Tickets are available at NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
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