Women's Volleyball | October 8

DeKALB, Ill.--- Continuing action at home, the Northern Illinois University Huskies (2-12, 0-4 MAC) will host a pair of games in Victor E. Court this week as Kent State (1-13, 0-4 MAC) and Ohio (6-9, 2-2 MAC) visit DeKalb. The Huskies will take on the Golden Flashes of Kent State on Oct. 10 before hosting the Bobcats of Ohio on Oct. 11. Both matches are set to start at 6 p.m.
 
Tickets can be purchased here or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225). Calls received outside of business hours (Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm CT) will be returned the next business day.
 
Previewing Kent State
 
In MAC play, Kent State hosted Eastern Michigan in the opening weekend, dropping matches 3-2 and 3-0 to the Eagles. The Golden Flashes travelled to Buffalo last weekend, getting swept by the Bulls in both matches.
 
At the net, Mackenzie McGuire leads the Golden Flashes with 93 total kills and 2.51 kills per set. Logan Henderson is second on the team in kills per set, averaging 2.03. Greta Bolognini leads the team with 16 service aces while Kendall White leads the team with 6.88 assists per set. White is No. 7 in the MAC for assists per set. Bolognini leads the team with 3.92 digs per set, a total of 188 digs this season. Liliana Mechura leads the team with 34 blocks (.77 per set).
 
Heading into this weekend's series, the Huskies hold a 35-11 series record against the Golden Flashes. The Huskies claimed the 2023 meeting, a 3-0 sweep in Kent. In the last six meetings, the Huskies have won four of the meetings, with the victory in DeKalb coming in the 2021 season
 
Previewing Ohio
 
The Bobcats split with Akron in the first weekend of conference play in Akron before splitting the series with Toledo at home last weekend. Both wins against MAC opponents came in five-set battles.
 
Looking at the stats, Kam Hunt leads the team with 3.84 kills per set (234 total kills) and is joined by Anna Kharchynska with 3.51 kills per set (214 total kills). Kharchynska is in the top-10 in the MAC for hitting percentage while Hunt leads the conference in kills per set. Kendall Hickey leads the team with 4.64 digs per set, totaling 283 digs this season. Hickey is No. 4 in the conference for digs per set and total digs this season.
 
Heading into this weekend's series, the Bobcats hold the series record against the Huskies, 25-22.  Ohio has claimed the last six meetings between the programs, with five of them being straight set losses for the Huskies.
 
Looking at the Huskie Numbers
 
Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) is fifth in the conference in terms of hitting percentage, sitting at .321. Nazli Güvener (Ankara, Turkey/Elvankent Sinar) is tenth in the conference for kills per set at 3.08. On the defensive side, Crew Hoffmeier (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) leads the conference in digs per set (5.36). Hoffmeier is third in the conference for total digs with 310 digs.
 
Güvener leads all Huskies with 3.08 kills per set, a total of 148 kills. Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) has 167 kills to lead the Huskies (2.88 per set) while Atiemo sits at 147 kills (2.53 per set). Grevengoed is third in the MAC for aces per set at 0.43 and fourth for total aces with 25. Atiemo has recorded 908 career kills after being credited with 21 kills in the last weekend of play.