Knocking on the door of a win on the final day of the DePaul Invitational, the NIU volleyball team was answered with a harsh ending.
On match point and leading 15-14 in Saturday’s fifth and deciding set, the Huskies surrendered a 3-0 scoring run. St. Thomas freshman outside hitter Ellie Gustafson drilled back-to-back kills to deny NIU its second win of the season.
The Huskies (1-8) left Chicago winless on the weekend after a defeat at the hands of the University of St. Thomas Tommies (3-6) in five sets, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 15-17, on the final day of the DePaul Invitational.
The Huskies went the distance for the fourth time this season, entering the match with a 1-2 record in five-sets matches. One of those matches was NIU’s first win of the season against the University of North Carolina Wilmington on Sept. 1 at the Wildcat Classic.
OFFENSE COMES TO LIFE
NIU broke out with a season-high 71 kills and a .284 hitting performance. The Huskies boasted five players with double-digit kills. Sophomore outside hitter Nazli Güvener led the way with a career-high 18 kills on .432 hitting.
St. Thomas started the match 1-0 before NIU retorted with hitting performances of .486, .343 and .382 in the ensuing three frames.
The setting tandem of senior Ella Mihacevich and junior Sophie Hurt combined for 59 of NIU’s 67 assists on the day. Junior libero Crew Hoffmeier ended with a match-best 35 digs.
DEFENSIVE DEFICIENCIES
Though NIU out-dug (86-72) and out-blocked (8-3) its Minnesotan opponents, the defense struggled to mitigate Tommies’ offensive firepower in Saturday’s meeting.
St. Thomas had 69 team kills and three players tally 15-plus kills. Gustafson led the Tommies with 18 kills off the bench – tying Güvener for the match lead. The Huskies also surrendered 11 service aces, the most by any NIU opponent this season.
NIU’s permittance of 12 Tommie fifth-set kills, paired with the offense sputtering out in the final set, played a crucial role in the Huskies’ late-stage shortcomings.
ON TO THE NEXT
NIU has one weekend remaining in its non-conference schedule. The Huskies will play in the UNI Tournament – a four-team round-robin event – on Friday and Saturday.
The Huskies’ next match will be against the University of Dayton Flyers at 11 a.m. Friday at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The stream will be carried on ESPN+, and live statistics will be on SIDEARM Sports.
