Women's Volleyball | September 30

DeKALB, Ill.-- Continuing action this week, the Northern Illinois University volleyball team will face Milwaukee and Green Bay in Horizon League play. The Huskies (6-6, 0-2 Horizon) will travel to Milwaukee (5-10, 0-3 Horizon) on Oct. 1 for a 6 p.m. match against the Panthers. NIU will return home Oct. 2 to host Green Bay (10-4, 3-0 Horizon) at 6 p.m. against the Phoenix.
 
Friday's (Oct. 2) match will be the Huskies "Why We Play" game as we honor and support all those impacted by cancer and other illnesses.
 
Both matches will air live on ESPN+ with Andy Garcia and Sam Grams, NIU '12, on Friday's call.
 
To purchase tickets, please click here or call the NIU Athletics Tickets Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
Outlook on the Panthers
 
Milwaukee and NIU will meet on October 1 for the first time since 2024, where the Huskies lost a five-set battle to the Panthers. NIU leads the all-time series at 16-10-1.
 
Annie Eschenbach leads the team with 2.73 kills per set and is joined by three other Panthers at 2.03 or more kills per set.
 
At the service line, Liv Doerre leads the way with 16 aces. Kati Goba leads the team with 4.10 digs per set as Josie Noble leads the way with 1.00 blocks per set. 
 
Previewing the Phoenix
 
The Huskies hold a 21-2 record over the Phoenix with the last meeting coming in 2022, a 3-1 victory in favor of Green Bay. Prior to that loss, NIU had won 19 straight matches against Green Bay.
 
The Phoenix are led by Diane Pichelman and Gillian Koning, who each average 3.00 kills per set.
 
Pichelman leads the Phoenix at the service line with 24 aces.  Defensively, Macy Kline leads the team with 3.72 digs per set while Olivia Neumann leads with 1.28 blocks per set.
 
Earlier this week, Green Bay recorded a season-best 14 blocks against Milwaukee.
 
Green Bay's Alexa Hernandez and Pichelman have both earned Player of the Week honors this season. 
 
Looking at the Numbers
 
Ava Grevengoed (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet West) leads the team with 112 kills this season, an average of 2.87 per set. Katie Pahl (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) and Autumn Flynn (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) are averaging 2.36 and 2.44 kills per set for the Huskies. 
 
At the service line, Pahl leads the way with 14 aces this season. She is joined in double-digit aces by Delaney Steers (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) who has 11 on the season.
 
Charlotte Gramzow (Royal Oak, Mich./Lutheran Northwest) leads NIU in digs for the Huskies with 3.00 per set.  Steers and Grevengoed had 2.72 and 2.26 per set to round out the top-3.
 
Flynn and Rylea Alvin (Randolph, Wis./Randolph) continue to be the steady blockers in the middle with 30 (Flynn) and 28 (Alvin) blocks this season.
 
Last Time on the Court
 
The Huskies were last on the court, Sept. 25-26 as they competed at Wright State.
 
Grevengoed led the team with 3.00 kills per set (18 total) and was joined by Pahl, Flynn, and Alvin with double-digit kills for the weekend.
 
Gramzow led the team over the weekend with 4.33 digs per set (26 total).
 
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