NIU volleyball continued its hot streak against non-conference teams at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Indianapolis.
The Huskies (6-2) battled the Gonzaga University Bulldogs (5-3) and the Bellarmine University Knights (4-4) on Friday and, with a commanding offense, the Huskies split day one of the invitational.
“We played two very different opponents,” head volleyball coach Sondra D’Amore said in a statement to the Northern Star. “They pushed us in a positive way. We fought through moments that weren’t our best game and still were able to pull out a lot of close sets. I’m proud of our overall effort to combat these challenges.”
ACES IN SPADES
The Huskies appeared stunned in the opening set of the match, and the Zags took advantage.
A service ace to open the second set from freshman outside hitter Delaney Steers set the tone for the rest of the game, and NIU took it to Gonzaga with their serves and kills. After three sets of back-and-forth action, the Huskies muzzled the Bulldogs, victorious in their first match of the weekend 3-1.
“We kept emphasizing serving pressure,” D’Amore said via text. “When we executed, it made a huge difference in our game. That, and offensive decisions, is what ultimately won us the match.”
After losing the first set 25-11, the Huskies went on to take the remaining sets 25-19, 25-18 and 27-25).
Sophomore outside hitter Emma McCartney pushed the Huskie offense forward, leading the match with 20 kills. She also showed out on defense with 1 solo block, 3 block assists and 7 digs.
“My mindset today was to just go out and keep pushing for each point,” McCartney said in a statement to the Northern Star. “Every point matters in the game of volleyball, so I had to give my 100% for every ball. Even though they had a big block, the team knew that we had to make the block our friend. The team has been strong this past week in practice, and we wanted to keep that momentum going into Gonzaga.”
Junior middle blocker Autumn Flynn kept NIU in the game with her hitting and serving abilities, smashing seven kills and totaling three of NIU’s 11 service aces. She also helped put the Bulldogs down with four block assists.
“Serving plays a big role in our gym, and it is definitely one of our main focuses,” Flynn said in a statement to the Northern Star. “The 11 aces just show our hard work behind the service line. For my blocks, my pin blockers were able to put me in the best position to help make me successful.”
Sophomore outside hitter Ava Grevengoed pushed the offense as well, nailing 13 kills. She gave her teammates credit for her production.
“My setters put me in great positions to succeed offensively,” Grevengoed said in a statement to the Northern Star. “The bench and my teammates on the court are good at being in my ear, telling me what is open and what to do with the ball.”
Redshirt junior setter Kylie Schulze tallied the most assists of the game (22), helped by sophomore setter Ella Strausberger (15). On defense, they both notched five digs.
FIGHTING TO THE VERY END
NIU had its second match of the day against Bellarmine, and the Knights overwhelmed the Huskies. The Huskies dropped the first two sets, but bounced back on defense to win the third and fourth.
After fighting to take the match to a fifth set, NIU couldn’t deny Bellarmine’s offense. The Huskies fell to the Knights, losing 2-3.
“After losing the first two sets, we huddled up and knew we weren’t playing like the team we know we are,” Grevengoed said in a statement to the Northern Star. “That fired us up, and our execution was on point. We were having fun, feeding each other and making plays. We wanted to go to five (sets), the second we went 0-2 in the first sets. I love that about this team; we always want more out of ourselves and each other.”
With 15 kills, McCartney led the Huskies for the second consecutive match, followed by Grevengoed, who totaled 12, and Flynn, who ended with 6. Defensively, McCartney made 7 digs and 3 block assists.
“Bellarmine was tough with us being down 0-2 in sets and trying to come back,” McCartney said in a statement to the Northern Star. “We finally found some rhythm in the third and fourth sets. We found it by our setters mixing the ball around and working as a unit. Unfortunately, it didn’t fall our way at the end of the fifth set, but now we know which parts of the game we need to work on.”
Driving the defense, Flynn jumped 1 solo block and 5 block assists. Schulze once again led the Huskies with 25 assists, also making 9 digs and 1 service ace.
“Tomorrow our focus is to start strong and play together,” Flynn said via text. “We worked hard this preseason, and are looking to add one more win before we start conference play.”
The Huskies face Indiana University Indianapolis in their final game of the Hampton Inn Invitational at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Indianapolis, Indiana. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Sports.
