AKRON, Ohio—Dropping their sixth straight contest, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team (10-10, 3-8 MAC) fell in four sets to the University of Akron Zips (11-11, 4-7 MAC). The Huskies and Zips posted set scores of 26-28, 26-20, 20-25, and 17-25.
 
In the third set of this afternoon's contest, Ella Strausberger (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) reached the 1,000 career-assist mark.
 
Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) marked her ninth double-double of the season and third consecutive with 11 kills and 11 digs. Alexa Hayes (Magnolia, Texas/Magnolia West) matched Grevengoed with 11 kills as the duo led the Huskies offensively.
 
Ellie Smith (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) made her debut for the Huskies at setter in the fourth set.
 
"We beat ourselves today. Playing on the road is tough and we got pushed from Akron with serving pressure today," said head coach Sondra D'Amore. "The focus has to be on us this week. Not about who we're playing but how we can get better and show up with the grit we know this team has."
 
How It Happened
 
The opening set featured four tie scores before the Zips took a two-point lead at 8-6. Hayes tied the game back at nine as NIU went on a 4-0 run to force a timeout. Akron responded to tie the game at 12 before Grevengoed and Hayes started NIU on a 3-1 run. Akron tied the game at 22 late in the set before back-to-back attacking errors by both teams tied the game at 23. Grevengoed and Emma McCartney (Cleveland, Ohio/Chardon) had kills in the final points as extra points were needed for Akron to take the first set.
 
McCartney and Strausberger recorded the first kills of the second set before the Zips collected three straight points. McCartney tied the game at four before Grevengoed started a 5-0 run to take a 9-6 lead over Akron. The Huskies built their lead to five at 13-8 on a block by Grevengoed and Autumn Flynn (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco), forcing a Zips timeout. The Zips would get as close as one at 21-20 as NIU scored the final four points of the set to even the match at 1-1.
 
Grevengoed recorded the Huskies first service ace in the third set as the teams traded points early. A Rylea Alvin (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) tied the set at five as the Zips scored three unanswered points. Grevengoed started a 5-2 run as a Hayes kill tied the set at 10. Akron went on a 5-1 run as they regained the lead. Following a late timeout, the Huskies had back-to-back kills as they game within two at 17-15. Akron rebuilt their lead to four as Flynn had consecutive kills to force a timeout from Akron at 20-18. The Zips ended the third set on a 5-2 run as they took at 2-1 lead over NIU.
 
Heading into the fourth set, McCartney and Hayes had a pair of kills to open the set before a Zips block gave them their first point. Alvin had an early kill to put the Huskies back up by two at 4-2 as the Zips went on a 4-2 run to tie the game at six. Hayes tied the game for a final time at seven on an assist from McCartney as Akron went on a 5-0 run. Grevengoed ended the scoring run as NIU matched Akron point-for-point near the middle of the set. Akron went on a 5-1 run as they took a six-point lead over NIU late in the set. Flynn recorded the final kill of the match for the Huskies as Akron finished the set on a 6-1 run.
 
The Huskies finished their three-game road swing on October 28 as they travel to Western Michigan. The Huskies and Broncos are set to have first serve at 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET in Kalamazoo, Michigan. NIU took the first game this season, a 3-0 sweep in Victor E. Court on October 7.
 
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