DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team held the Eastern Illinois Panthers to a .053 hitting percentage Saturday night in a 3-1 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15) win at Victor E. Court to split the weekend series.
"I want to give credit to our team defense," said head coach
Ray Gooden. "Whether it was blocking or getting digs, that effort allowed us to get swings and score points tonight. We learned a lot in the spring about getting better in the second night of series. We knew we had to make some adjustments and take of the ball on our side, and I thought we did a nice job of that as a team."
Junior outside hitter
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led all players with 19 kills and added 14 digs for a double-double.
Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) also had a double-double with 47 assists and 11 digs.
"Grace did a really good job communicating with me to get ball out where I wanted," Jablonski said in praise of NIU's setter. "She got us all to the tempo we needed to be successful."
Freshman middle blocker
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) set season-highs with 12 kills, five blocks, and three service aces.
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) hit .500 for the match with 11 kills.
NIU (3-2) fed off the energy of a raucous home crowd to take an early 8-4 lead in the opening set, which led to an Eastern Illinois timeout. The Huskies grew the lead to seven at 12-5 on a
Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) kill. Ahead 14-9, NIU got back-to-back kills from Nedic to start an 7-1 run that put the Huskies up 21-10. A pair of
Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) aces capped the run. The Huskies hit .343 in the opening set and held the Panthers to .000 to roll to a 25-13 opening set victory.
"We knew we had to establish ourselves early and really work hard on our temp and also our defensive tenacity," Gooden said. "I think those energy plays from us helped the crowd get into the match which in turn helped our team."
Just as in the first, NIU got out to a fast start in the second set. Powered by five kills from Jablonski and Atiemo the Huskies took a 7-2 lead. Eastern Illinois rallied back to get within one at 10-9 following a Kylie Michael kill. Jablonski answered with a kill of her own which ignited a 4-0 run that put NIU up 14-9. The Panthers chipped away at the NIU advantage and closed within one at 22-21 on a Danielle Allen kill. The Huskies put away the set by scoring the final three points, taking the set 25-21 to go up 2-0 in the match.
Eastern Illinois (4-1) used a 6-0 run midway through the third set to take an 18-14 lead. The Panthers led by as much as six at 22-16 on a block by Ireland Hieb and Ella Collins. NIU stormed back on the strength of three straight Atiemo aces to get within one at 22-21. Mihacevich tied the set at 23-23 on a kill, but the Panthers took the next two points to take the set 25-23 to stay alive in the match.
NIU bounced back from an early deficit in the fourth to take a 7-4 lead on a Jablonski kill. The Huskies led 12-8 when an Eastern Illinois service error sparked a 5-0 run, capped by a
Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) ace, to go ahead 17-8. NIU continued to ride that momentum and took a double-digit lead on an Atiemo solo block that made the score 21-11. The Huskies dominated at the net in the final set, recording five of their nine blocks in the final set. Mihacevich and
Angie Gromos (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago) put the exclamation point on the 3-1 win with a block of Allen to give NIU the fourth set 25-15.
The Huskies held a 76-66 advantage in digs and a 9-7 edge in blocks. Mihacevich and Gromos each had three blocks to go with Atiemo's five. Michael led Eastern Illinois with 12 kills.
NIU is back in action next weekend at the Charleston Southern Tournament. The Huskies take on Bethune-Cookman on Friday, Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. before a 5 p.m. matchup with The Citadel.
--NIU--
