DeKALB, Ill.—Winning a five-set thriller, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team (9-16, 3-12 Horizon) defeated Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (11-16, 6-9 Horizon). The Huskies posted set scores of 19-25, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13 to win the match.
Katie Pahl (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) had a career-night, leading NIU with 21 kills and 48 attacks.
Autumn Flynn (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) was the second Huskie to have a career-night, recording 17 kills and four service aces in the match.
Kylie Schulze (Wonder Lake, Ill./Woodstock North) and
Viktoria Djukic (Podgorica, Montenegro) recorded double-doubles in the contest. Schulze added her tenth career double-double as she led NIU with 34 assists while Djukic notched her seventh double-double of the season.
"A lot of positives from tonight, especially in how we responded after the first set. I challenged the team to keep fighting, given where we are in the season, and they really responded," said NIU head coach
Sondra D'Amore. "You saw that in the way we battled back to win the second and third sets, and then again in a close fifth set after dropping the fourth. It was a really good overall team performance. If we can come out tomorrow and do some of those same things, we'll put ourselves in a good position. Our goal has been to finish the season strong, and tonight was a good step in that direction."
Pahl recorded the Huskies' first kill of the night, connecting with Djukic to tie the opening set at 3-3. Oakland responded with a 6-1 run before Flynn recorded back-to-back kills to pull NIU within three at 9-6. Flynn followed with consecutive service aces to bring the Huskies within one at 11-10, but the Golden Grizzlies extended their lead to 15-11. Three different Huskies recorded kills as Oakland built a seven-point advantage at 22-15. Pahl and
Rylea Alvin (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) combined for NIU's final four kills of the set, but Oakland claimed the opener, 25-19.
Flynn opened the second set with a solo block and added her third ace of the night to give NIU a 3-2 lead. Pahl's kill at 5-4 sparked a 5-3 run as the Huskies maintained a two-point advantage. Oakland rallied to tie the set at nine before an
Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) kill sparked a 3-1 NIU run. The Golden Grizzlies took a 16-15 lead before
Naomi Dowd (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) tied the set at 17. Grevengoed followed with a solo block to give NIU the lead for good as the Huskies closed out the set with a 9-4 run to even the match, 25-20.
Lilly Abney (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville), making her first career start, opened the third set with a kill as NIU jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Huskies extended their advantage to five behind a Flynn kill before Oakland pulled within two at 13-11. The Golden Grizzlies continued to chip away, closing the gap to 14-13, but a Pahl kill sparked a 6-2 NIU run. Flynn recorded four of NIU's final five kills as the Huskies claimed the third set, 25-20, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Flynn and Pahl recorded NIU's first two kills of the fourth set as the teams traded points early. The set featured 13 ties, with Grevengoed recording a kill to even the score at 6-6. Flynn then sparked a 4-0 NIU run as the Huskies took a 10-7 lead. NIU continued to trade points with Oakland before a Huskies service error sparked a 4-0 Golden Grizzlies run, giving them a 14-13 advantage. Abney tied the set at 17 and again at 19 before Flynn recorded the final tie at 20. Oakland closed out the set with a 5-2 run to claim the fourth set, 25-22, and force a decisive fifth set.
Pahl opened the fifth set with a kill before an Abney kill and an Alvin block helped NIU take a 4-2 lead. Oakland quickly battled back to even the score twice before a Grevengoed kill gave the Huskies a 6-5 advantage. Grevengoed added two more kills as NIU extended its lead to 9-5. The Golden Grizzlies responded with a 4-1 run to pull within one at 11-10 before Schulze set up Flynn for a kill to extend NIU's lead to two. Pahl's kill brought NIU to match point at 14-12, but Oakland fought off the first opportunity to pull within one. Pahl then capitalized on a set from Djukic to secure the fifth-set victory, 15-13, and complete the Huskies' comeback.
The Huskies return to action on Nov. 13 as they take on Cleveland State in the season finale. First serve is set for 5 p.m. inside Victor E. Court. Fans are invited to stay after the match for post-match autographs with the team.
To purchase tickets, please click
here or call the NIU Athletics Tickets Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
Andy Garcia will bring you the action on ESPN+ and is joined by Kristin Hoffman (Nov. 13) on the call.
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