CHICAGO – Two days into its three-day stand in Chicago’s North Side, NIU volleyball’s stint at the DePaul Invitational has continued to offer setbacks for the Huskies.
The Huskies (1-7) were undone in four sets, 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, by the University of Evansville Purple Aces (5-2) on Friday at DePaul University’s McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago.
Down 2-0 early in the match, NIU topped the Purple Aces in the third set and battled fiercely in the fourth, only to fall 25-22 in the final set and drop to 0-2 on the weekend.
“We battled, we fought hard,” said NIU volleyball head coach Sondra Parys. “(We) just have to make changes quicker. A lot of positives to still take away from it (the match). Thought people that came off the bench did a really good job. Just got to find more ways to score when it counts.”
Saturday’s loss served as NIU’s fourth loss in a row and seventh in its current campaign.
THE LOCKER BUDDIES
In the midst of NIU’s losing effort, senior opposite/outside hitter Emily Dykes and junior middle blocker Shannon Dunkin took the spotlight.
The pair of volleyball veterans – whose lockers neighbor one another and dub themselves as “locker buddies” – caused problems for Evansville throughout the day.
For the second-straight match, Dykes finished as one of NIU’s top attackers. Dykes tallied a team-best 14 kills on .414 hitting. She also tacked on six total blocks.
Saturday was Dykes’ second match on the starting lineup since returning from injury. She spent the first three matches inactive with a broken left pinky and has worn a cast on her left hand in the four matches since returning to action.
“It’s hard with my cast, but I feel like I’ve done well adapting to everything,” Dykes said.
As Dykes returned to form, Dunkin made her first appearance of 2023. The University of California, Riverside transfer entered the match late in the second set. She logged a team-best seven blocks by the end of her NIU debut.
“I think it went well,” Dunkin said of her debut. “The energy on the court was definitely amazing and … that did help me.”
OFFENSIVE DISPARITY
NIU’s offensive efforts produced 51 kills on 132 swings on .242 hitting. On the opposite side of the net, Evansville finished the match with 63 kills on a .281 hitting performance.
While NIU’s offense struggled to keep even with Evansville, the Huskie defense came up with a season-high 14 blocks.
TRYING TO END ON THE RIGHT NOTE
NIU – who remains winless on the weekend – will have one more chance to claim victory at the DePaul Invitational. The Huskies return to the court at noon Saturday to play the University of St. Thomas Tommies.
“We’ve been working really hard to put everything together and I feel like the progression is coming,” Dykes said. “It’s just coming very slowly. Hopefully tomorrow (Saturday), we’ll be able to progress even more than what we did today (Friday) from yesterday (Thursday), and get the win.”
The match will not be streamed. Live statistics will be available on StatBroadcast.
