DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team saw its four-match winning streak snapped Thursday night by the Green Bay Phoenix in a 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 18-25, 22-25) loss at Victor E. Court.
 
"We knew Green Bay was going to be one of the tougher teams we were going to play so far this year, and they did a really good job of winning the tough plays," said head coach Ray Gooden. "It was a good experience for our kids to learn from and hopefully it will help us get better moving into conference play."
 
Freshman middle blocker Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) led the Huskies with a season-high 18 kills, hitting .310 for the match. Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) also had double-digit kills with 11 and had a match-high six blocks. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) had eight kills and added 14 digs. Setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had a double-double with 42 assists and 12 digs, adding a match-high three service aces.
 
NIU (6-3) got out to a quick 7-3 lead in the first set behind three Jablonski kills, leading to a Green Bay timeout. The advantage grew to six at 12-6 when Balensiefer called her own number and put down a kill. The Phoenix rallied back to get within one at 15-14 on back-to-back Alexandra Zakutney kills. NIU took a 21-19 lead on a Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) kill, but Green Bay took over from there. The Phoenix won the last six points of the set to win it 25-21 on an Anna Eaton kill to go up 1-0 in the match.
 
Green Bay (5-6) took a 12-8 lead midway through the second set, with a pair of Calli Gentry aces and an Eaton kill leading to an NIU timeout. The Huskies chipped away at Green Bay's lead and got within one at 17-16 following consecutive kills by Atiemo. Green Bay came back to take three of the next four points to take a 20-17 lead on a Cora Behnke kill. Sparked by a Kemp kill, NIU answered the Phoenix's 6-0 run to end set one with an 8-0 run to take set two. NIU won it 25-20 on an Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) to level the match at one set all.
 
"Ella played well tonight and was really good from the service line," Gooden said. "We got into some tough spots but I think our team worked on getting out of them together and that's what we need. We just need to be able to make some of those tough plays more consistently."
 
The Huskies fell behind 10-5 early in set three, but used a 9-3 run capped by two Kemp kills to take a 14-13 lead. Green Bay responded with a 7-2 run highlighted by a block from Gentry and Tiffaly Paalman to go up 2016. The Phoenix held NIU to a -.017 hitting mark to win the set 25-18 and go up 2-1 in the match. In the fourth set, NIU erased a 15-9 deficit to take a 20-19 lead on a Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) kill. Green Bay broke a 21-21 tie with a Shannon Coughlin kill, then won three of the next four points to win the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
 
After hitting .289 in the opening set, the Huskies finished the match hitting just .139. Green Bay hit .269 for the match and held a 75-68 advantage in digs as well as an 8-7 edge in blocks. Zakutney led all players with 21 kills as Behnke had 15 kills and 21 digs.
 
NIU wraps up its non-conference slate when #2 Wisconsin comes to a sold out Victor E. Court Saturday night for a 6 p.m. match. A limited number of tickets will be made available for NIU students for Saturday's match on a first-come, first-serve basis when the gates open at 5 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to wear black Saturday night for a blackout. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
--NIU--