Women's Volleyball | September 12

DeKALB, Ill.—Heading east for a three-game road swing, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team (1-4) is set to compete at the Art Carmichael Invitational, hosted by the University of Rhode Island, Sept. 13-14.
 
The Huskies will take on the University of Rhode Island (1-5) at 9 a.m. CT and Harvard University (3-0) at 3 p.m. CT, both on Sept. 13. The Huskies conclude the Art Carmichael Invitational on Sept. 14, taking on Stony Brook University (5-1) at 11 a.m. CT.
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
Rhode Island claimed their first victory of the season against Providence on September 7, a 3-1 victory over Providence. Offensively, Rhode Island is led by Madi Disu at 2.70 kills per set and Havyn Rolle with 2.04 kills per set. Kiera McCarles led the team in assists at 6.79 per set. Defensively, Rhode Island is led by Edie Lamoreaux, who is averaging 2.79 digs per set. Dakota Henry is also averaging over 2 digs per set, 2.04. This will be the third meeting between the squads, with each team claiming a victory.
 
In their first meeting against the Crimson of Harvard, Harvard started their season going 3-0 at their home invitational. The Crimson posted five-set thrilling victories on September 7 over Merrimack College and the University of New Hampshire.  Brynne Faltinsky leads the team with 3.62 kills per set while Corinne Furey averages 3.11 kills per set. Lindsey Zhang leads the team defensively with 3.15 digs per set while Ryleigh Patterson has 13 blocks for Harvard (1.00 per set).
 
Stony Brook has jumped out to a 5-1 start to the season, with all but one match going five sets. Kali Moore leads the Seawolves with 3.61 kills per set and is joined by Leoni Kunz with 3.29 kills per set as the only two to average over three kills per set. Moore has eclipsed the 100-kill mark this season. Julia Patsos leads the team defensively with 4.18 digs per set while Mercedes Motton has 26 blocks on the season (0.96 per set). This will be the second meeting between Stony Brook and NIU, with NIU claiming the first meeting.
 
Huskie Notes
 
Sophie Hurt (Elmhurst, Ill./IC Catholic Prep) broke her personal best for assists twice at the St. Thomas Invitational, setting her new career-high at 38. Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) and Crew Hoffmeier (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Hoffmeier sits in the top-3 in the nation for total digs (136) and digs per set (5.91) as of September 10, 2024. Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) also claimed a top-30 spot in attacks per set (11.70).

Grevengoed is making her presence on the court known, tallying four consecutive double-doubles for the Huskies and leading the team with 13 service aces.
 
Atiemo is third in the conference in hitting percentage, sitting at .402 while Nazli Güvener (Ankara, Turkey/Elvankent Sinar) sits in the top-10 for kills per set at 3.35. The duo leads the Huskies offensively as well.