Women's Volleyball | November 9
DeKALB, Ill.—One final road trip of the regular season awaits the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball program as they travel to Ball State for a pair of games. The Huskies (8-19, 6-9 MAC) will face the Cardinals of Ball State (14-12, 11-4 MAC) at 5 p.m. on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11.
This weekend's match-up between Ball State and Northern Illinois will be a battle between the top blocking teams in the league. Ball State leads the MAC in blocks per set at 2.33, while NIU sits at No. 2 with 2.22 blocks per set.
The Huskies lead the league in total blocks at 229. Ball State claims the second spot with 219 total blocks this season.
Ball State has a hitting percentage of .239 this season, averaging 13.3 kills per set. Aniya Kennedy leads the Cardinals and the MAC with 4.11 kills per set. Marie Plitt and Madison Buckley average 2.62 and 2.46 kills per set, respectively.
Camryn Wise of the Cardinals and
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) of the Huskies are the top-2 in the MAC for blocks per set, sitting at 1.22 and 1.09 respectively.
In the all-time series, Ball State holds a 35-37 record against NIU. The Huskies have dropped the last four meetings between the squads and look for their first win in Muncie since February 2021.
Checking the numbers for the Huskies,
Crew Hoffmeier (Louisville, Ky/Assumption) is third in the MAC for digs per set and total digs, recording 4.48 digs per set and 461 total digs this season. Hoffmeier has recorded seven games this season with 20 or more digs, after being credited with 20 digs against Toledo on Nov. 4.
The Huskies are sixth in the MAC for hitting percentage (.220), averaging 12 kills per set. The Huskies are led by
Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) with 2.66 kills per set.
Atiemo leads the MAC in total blocks (112) this season and is in the top-10 for highest hitting percentage in the MAC, recording a percentage of .321. Atiemo averages 2.13 kills per set as she has been credited with 219 kills this season.
Emily Dykes (Winterville, N.C./Ayden-Grifton) is ninth in the MAC for hitting percentage, sitting at .307. Dykes has tallied 181 kills this season, which is third on the Huskies team.
