DeKALB – NIU volleyball (0-1) fell short against the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (1-0), losing in four sets in its 2024 season debut Friday. This breaks the Huskies’ five game winning streak over the Leathernecks and is NIU’s second straight season-opening loss.
AGGRESSIVE OFFENSE
NIU recorded 205 attacks in the game against WIU, marking the first time an NIU team has reached the 200 mark since September of 2017 against Bowling Green.
When asked about the team’s aggression, NIU volleyball head coach Sondra D’Amore stated that it’s always a part of their game plan.
“We definitely have talked about getting more opportunities to get kills,” D’Amore said. “I think the set we won, and the set we were in, we were executing at a higher clip to actually put kills on the board. That’s always a part of our game.”
Speaking further on the teams attacking, freshman outside hitter Ava Grevengoed reinforced the work they put in practice to put pressure on the opposing defense.
“I feel like in practice we definitely have been working on attacking and using our toolboxes and making opportunities for each other to attack,” Grevengoed said. “I feel like tonight we definitely did that.”
NIU’s aggression was palpable but didn’t yield much efficiency. The team sported a hit rate of .151, struggling to consistently get past Western Illinois’ front line and senior libero Karli Wenzel.
FRESH TALENT
Youth was the bright spot of this game as three freshmen were inserted into the starting lineup for this matchup. That was Grevengoed, freshman setter Ella Strausberger and freshman outside hitter Emma McCartney.
Grevengoed was especially impressive, scoring 9 kills to go along with 5 service aces in her collegiate debut. When asked about her 5 service aces, Grevengoed pointed out the work she’s done in practice, as well as the support of her teammates.
“In practice we’ve been doing a lot of serving, and I feel like my teammates around me were being super encouraging,” Grevengoed said. “I just wanted to get the team points every single time I went to the service line.”
Strausberger also made large contributions in her debut posting a double-double with 19 assists and 10 digs.
D’Amore praised her freshmen’s performance and their chemistry with the more experienced members of the squad.
“I don’t think you would have known that they were freshmen.” D’Amore said. “They’ve had a lot of high level experience and high level performance, and they did good integrating with the returners and vice versa.”
BRIGHT RETURNERS
Senior middle blocker Charli Atiemo was dominant. Her 14 kills were the most of any Huskie. She also led the team in block assists with 5.
Atiemo gave the credit for her success to her teammates and coaches.
“I give it to my setters, and the coaching staff for telling me what was open every time,” Atiemo said. “I wasn’t even keeping track. I was just like, ‘what can I do most to help the team?’ And the setters put me in a great position.”
Senior outside hitter Nikolette Nedic also shined, scoring 11 kills of her own, good for second on the team.
UP NEXT
The Huskies look to bounce back at 3 p.m Sunday in the Convocation Center against University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Live stats will be found on SIDEARM Stats.
