Women's Volleyball | October 26

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team faces off against the Kent State Golden Flashes and the Ohio Bobcats this Friday (Oct. 28) and Saturday (Oct. 29), respectively.

The Huskies (14-7, 7-4 MAC) are coming off a road split versus Toledo this past weekend. NIU dropped Friday's match in straight sets, but had a short memory the following day as the squad took down Toledo in four sets.

Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) posted a career-high 19 kills and hit .390 to lead NIU in Saturday night's win. On the attack the whole weekend, Atiemo logged 24 kills (3.43/set) and committed just five errors for 26 points (3.71/set). Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) posted back-to-back double-doubles and averaged 3.29 kills-per-set.

The History with Kent State: NIU leads its all-time series with the Golden Flashes (12-10, 3-8 MAC) by a margin of 32-10. The last time the pair met, the Huskies swept (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) Kent State on Oct. 29, 2021 at home. Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) and Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) led NIU with 10 kills each.

Scouting Kent State: Fourth in the Mid-American Conference East, the Golden Flashes have lost four-straight contests, but have taken down Akron, Eastern Michigan, and Miami (OH) in MAC play. Mackenzie McGuire and Savannah Matthews lead on the pin – they're both averaging 3.12 kills-per-set and have combined for 519 of Kent State's 1,344 points this season. Erin Gardner leads on defense with 3.70 digs-per-set while Lana Strejcek has totaled 56 blocks thus far. Kent State's setter, Alex Haffner, averages 8.87 assists-per-set.  

The History with Ohio: NIU trails in its all-time series with Ohio (14-8, 8-3 MAC) 20-22. The last time the tow met, Ohio swept NIU (15-25, 23-25, 15-25) in the 2021 MAC Tournament.

Scouting Ohio: Just one game behind league-leaders Ball State and Bowling Green, the Bobcats are on a roll and have won their past four matchups. Middle blocker Caitlin O'Farrell leads Ohio with 3.23 kills-per-set: she's fourth in the league in kills and points. Sam Steele is fifth in the MAC in digs (4.45/set) while the Bobcats utilize two setters in Tria McLean (7.67 assists/set) and Parker Kwiatkowski (7.25 assists/set).  

The Huskies' date with Kent State is set for Friday with first serve at 6 p.m. EST and will broadcast live on ESPN3. NIU's matchup with Ohio will start at 4 p.m. EST and will broadcast on ESPN3 as well.