DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team (2-1, 0-0 MAC) doused the UIC Flames in three sets Saturday afternoon, concluding the Huskie Invitational at Victor E. Court.

"I feel good that we had a fresh start today and we came out with the mindset that we needed to defend our house," said Head Coach Ray Gooden after Saturday's match. "If we take a break for one second, people can and will challenge us and do good things against us. We gave UIC the full respect they deserve today and ended up with a solid result,"

How it Happened: NIU exploded out of the gates on a 10-3 run in the first set, putting them up early in the contest. Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland) hammered down the set-winning kill from Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) to win the opener 25-19.

In the second frame, the Huskies were up 21-16 before a 5-0 run from UIC tied the set. However, NIU kept its cool and capitalized off UIC errors to win the second set. In the third and final set, the Huskies were trailing late 23-20, but two service aces from Mihacevich and Brianna Scuric (East Troy, Wis./East Troy) helped NIU ignite on a 6-1 run to win the closer 26-24.

"One of the things we strive to be is balanced. Our middles continued to have a solid weekend. We got some offensive output from Katie Jablonski -  'Bina' [Brianna Scuric] did a really nice job coming in and playing solid, stable volleyball. So offensively, we have contributions from everybody. Defensively, I thought we did a nice job scrapping it up and playing better defense than we did yesterday evening against South Dakota State. 'Frankie' [Francesca Bertucci] continued to dig at a really high rate. Everybody, everybody, everybody had contributions on the floor and in blocking. We had balance and contributions from everyone,"

Notables: Jablonski (11), Sammi Lockwood (10) and Scuric (8) paced NIU in kills. Mihacevich posted four aces and 32 set assists to boost the squad. On the defensive side of the court, Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) led NIU with three blocks – Lockwood and Emily Dykes' (Winterville, N.C./Ayden-Grifton) had two as well. Bertucci had a game-high 18 digs.

Up Next: The Huskies will have a short break before action ramps back up at the Valparaiso Tournament next week. NIU will face Campbell at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2 before playing SIUE and Valpo on Saturday.

"Now we must go on the road for the first time and understand that in order to win a championship, we'll probably have to do it somewhere else. So, we're excited."

Season Tickets start at $30 in the general admission. A Huskie Four-Pack is available at $22.50 per ticket, with a minimum of four season tickets purchased. New for the 2022 season is the addition of 20 courtside seats on the south side of Victor E. Court. For $180, which includes a season ticket and Premium Seat License, Huskie fans will have a chance to experience NIU Volleyball like never before for less than $13 per match. All orders have a $5 handling fee. To purchase, click on the following link.