KENT, Ohio—Ending the season with a win, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team (13-14, 6-12 MAC) defeated the Kent State University Golden Flashes (8-21, 3-15 MAC) in four sets. The Huskies posted set scores of 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, and 25-20.
The Huskies recorded 12 service aces, the most all season, while the Golden Flashes had just three aces on the night.
Ella Strausberger (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) matched her career-best with four aces in the contest to lead the Huskies.
Emma McCartney (Cleveland, Ohio/Chadron) and
Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) led all players with 13 kills on the night.
McCartney and
Kylie Schulze (Wonder Lake, Ill./Woodstock North) recorded double-doubles in the match for the seventh and sixth career double-doubles. This was also the first time they have done that consecutively this season.
Savannah Gogel (Santa Claus, Ind./Heritage Hills) set a new career-best with seven blocks for the Huskies in the final game of the regular season.
"I am proud to have ended the season on two road wins. We cleaned up many areas of our game today and were able to stick to the game plan better," said head coach
Sondra D'Amore. "You saw a much more consistent team tonight which was a focus. Mentality was to focus on the details throughout each point and not let the outcome of the game be the focus."
How It Happened
Three different Huskies recorded kills in the opening points as the team traded points. A block by Gogel and
Rylea Alvin (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) gave NIU a 5-3 lead early before the Golden Flashes tied it at five. Grevengoed grabbed her second kill of the set, starting NIU on a 5-2 run for a 10-7 lead. Kent State responded with a 6-1 run to take a 13-11 lead before
Autumn Flynn (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) ended the run with a kill and repeated a 5-2 run by the Huskies for a 16-15 lead. The teams continued to battle as Kent State took a late 22-18 lead over the Huskies before a McCartney kill put an end to a Kent State run. The Huskies went on an 8-2 run, with two additional kills from McCartney, as they took set one 26-24.
Flynn and Grevengoed recorded the first two kills of the second set for NIU as neither team could gain more than a two-point lead. A McCartney kill tied the set at eight as NIU went on an 8-3 run for a 15-11 lead and the media timeout. Returning from the timeout, Alvin and Gogel teamed up for a block as the Huskies continued to click on the court. The Huskies and Golden Flashes matched each other point-for-point as the Huskies took a two-set lead on a Flynn kill to win 25-19.
Naomi Dowd (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) captured the first two kills of the third set as the Golden Flashes took an early 8-5 lead. McCartney capitalized on a set from
Delaney Steers (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) to start an 11-8 run for NIU to tie the set at 16. The Golden Flashes responded with three straight points before McCartney put a temporary stop to the offensive attack. Grevengoed had two kills and another block by Alvin and Gogel to tie the game at 23 before Kent State grabbed the final two points for a 25-23 final score.
Heading into the fourth set, NIU opened on a 4-1 run with kills from Grevengoed and McCartney. The Golden Flashes had back-to-back points to come within on at 6-5 before consecutive kills from Gogel and McCartney gave NIU a three-point lead. Following a Huskie service error, Kent State had four straight points as Alvin tied the game back at 9. Flynn's kill to make the score 10-9 was the start of a 6-2 run for NIU leading to the media timeout. The Huskies never relinquished the lead as Grevengoed and Gogel had six kills in the final points for NIU.
"This season was a huge step in the right direction and we have a lot of returners who are hungry for more," said D'Amore.
The Huskies finish the season with consecutive wins in the regular season for the first time since the 2021 season.
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