Women's Volleyball | September 3

DeKALB, Ill.—Beginning a seven-game road stretch, the Northern Illinois University Huskie volleyball team will compete at the St. Thomas Invitational, September 5 to 7 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
 
The Huskies will face Valparaiso at 4 p.m. on September 5 before taking on Tarleton State at 4 p.m. on September 6. St. Thomas will take on the Huskies on September 7 at 5 p.m. to conclude the tournament. 
 
Scouting the Opponents
 
Valparaiso opened the season, going 2-1 in their first tournament of the year. The Beacons' only loss came in a four-set battle against Eastern Michigan. Ava Helming leads the Beacons with 3.18 kills per set while Jordyn Gove is averaging 3.00 kills per set. Addy Kois averaged 5.33 assists per set in the opening weekend. Emma Hickey leads the defensive efforts with 5.42 digs per set as Jessica Pickett tallied 13 blocks for 1.18 blocks per set.
 
The Huskies and Beacons will meet for the 20^th time in program history. The two squads have not met since the 2003 season, when the Huskies pulled out a 3-2 victory. Against the Beacons, the Huskies are 19-1 overall.
 
In their opening weekend of play, Tarleton State went 0-3, including a five-set battle against Arkansas-Little Rock. Allison Bryant leads the Texans with 3.42 kills per set as she recorded 41 total kills in the opening weekend. Madison Frank, Tehana Mo'o, and Tatum Busch all average over 2 kills per set. Megan Hodges leads the team in assists per set with 8.33 as she is sitting at 100 assists so far. Emma Halcomb leads the lead with 4.08 digs per set and Addison Goss has 3.92 digs per set.
 
This will be the first meeting between NIU and Tarleton State.
 
St. Thomas went 0-3 in the first weekend of play, battling against Southern Indiana, Bradley, and DePaul.  The Tommies are led offensively by Lauren Galvin (2.90 kills per set) and Tezra Rudzitis (2.70 kills per set). Morgan Kealy leads the team in assists per set with 8.40 assists as she has accounted for 84 of the team's 117 assists. On the defensive side, Ella Voegele has accumulated 58 digs for 5.8 per set. Addie Schmotzer leads the team with 1.10 blocks per set.
 
This will be the second meeting between the Huskies and the Tommies as the teams met for the first time during the 2023 season. The Tommies held off a Huskie attack, defeating the Huskies 3-2 at the DePaul Invitational.
 
Huskie Invitational Recap
 
The Huskies recorded double-digit blocks in both of their opening weekend games against Western Illinois (13) and Milwaukee (10). Nikolette Nedic (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale Central) led the team on August 30 with six blocks while Savanah Brandt (Pearl City, Ill./Pearl City) led the team with five blocks. Charli Atiemo (Milford, Mich./Farmington Hills Mercy) added five blocks in the August 30 game and three blocks on Sept. 1 to be second on the team for blocks in both of those games.
 
In the home opener, the Huskies had 53 kills, eight service aces, and 88 digs. The last time the team had 75 or more digs was against St. Thomas on Sept. 9, 2023, with 86.
 
Four Huskies recorded career-bests over the weekend. Nedic had a career-best six blocks while Nazli Güvener (Ankara, Turkey/Elvankent Sinar) had a career-best 21 kills. Sarah Lezon (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) and Sophie Hurt (Elmhurst, Ill./IC Catholic Prep) had career-best in service aces with three and four respectively.
 
Ella Strausberger (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) collected her first pair of double-doubles during her opening weekend with for the Huskies. Against Western Illinois, Strausberger tallied 19 assists and 10 digs. Strausberger nabbed 18 assists and 11 digs against Milwaukee for her second double-double.
 
Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) had five service aces against Western Illinois, accounting for all but three of the Huskies aces. Those were the most by a Huskie since Atiemo recorded five against Toledo on Nov. 3, 2023.