DeKalb, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team reached double-figure team blocks for the second-straight night as the Huskies handled Miami (OH) in straight sets (25-21, 25-13, 25-23) Saturday night at Victor E. Court. Pacing the Mid-American Conference, NIU has now swept nine opponents thus far in the season.
"I think our team, after an emotional win last night, really had to dig deep in order to battle against a team like Miami who's younger, but played with a lot of emotion," said NIU head coach
Ray Gooden. "It was good for us to defend home court. I thought it was really important for us to put together a team win. And I thought we did that tonight,"
How it Happened: The Huskies (13-4,6-1 MAC) opened the first frame on a 5-2 run behind kills from
Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland),
Emily Dykes (Winterville, N.C./Ayden-Grifton) and
Sammi Lockwood (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge). The RedHawks (6-11,1-5 MAC) tied the set at 19-19, but a Miami error and a huge kill from
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) put NIU up 21-19. The Huskies ended the set on a 4-0 run to give them a 1-0 lead in the match.
Behind a .332 hitting percentage in the second set, NIU again bolted out to a 6-2 lead, setting the tone early in the frame. The Huskies widened the gap to 24-12 after an impressive 11-1 run to reach set point. Dykes put the set on ice with her kill from
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan).
NIU weathered a few Miami runs to hold onto its lead in the third and final frame. Most notably, the RedHawks logged a 4-0 run late in the set to make the score 22-21, NIU. But back-to-back Miami errors helped the Huskies reach set point at 24-21. The RedHawks earned the ensuing two points, but Jablonski logged the match-winning kill from Mihacevich to give NIU the win.
"One of our mottos this year is, 'setting the standard'. The other motto we have is, 'strength in numbers'. And with strength in numbers, we try to find balance. And hopefully you've seen that throughout each match, where you've seen different people come up and do some pretty good things. If we're able to find people that are able to step up for us offensively, defensively, what have you, it'll put us in a good spot to be successful,"
Notables: Jablonski led with 11 kills while Dykes and Atiemo chipped in 10 and nine, respectively. Mihacevich posted 36 assists and
Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) logged 20 digs. At the net, Atiemo had nine blocks, a career-high while Dykes and Lockwood contributed six and five, respectively. Nazli Güvener (Ankara, Turkey/Elvankent Sinar) saw a career-high three blocks.
Brianna Scuric (East Troy, Wis./East Troy), Jablonski, Mihacevich and Bertucci all logged one ace apiece.
Up Next: NIU welcomes reigning MAC champions Ball State (12-6,4-2 MAC) to Victor E. Court next Friday (Oct. 14) at 6 p.m. and Saturday (Oct. 15) at 2 p.m.
"We are super happy to win the weekend right now. We get a chance to celebrate some things for women's athletics tomorrow (at the Title IX banquet) and start a fresh week while knowing that the Cardinals are defending MAC champions. They'll come in with a lot of experience and a really complete team. We'll work really hard to have another positive homestand."
