Thursday, vs. Western Michigan

The volleyball team’s improving offense helped it claim its third consecutive Mid-American Conference victory versus the Western Michigan University Broncos (25-15, 20-25, 25-21, 25-19) Thursday at Victor E. Court.

The Huskies (5-13, 3-0 MAC) recorded season-highs in kills, attack percentage and assists against the Broncos in one of their most well-balanced offensive matches of the season. Six NIU players tallied five or more kills for the first time during the 2018 campaign.

“We’re continuing to have more balance,” Head Coach Ray Gooden said. “[First year middle blocker] Jasmine [Kemp] probably had a career-high night, from a points standpoint. [Redshirt senior middle blocker] Chrystal [McAlpin] did a good job of giving contributions and then [junior middle blocker] Brinley [Milbrath] came in later on and came up with six big kill points for us.”

Sophomore outside hitter Jori Radtke notched her fourth consecutive double-double with a career-high 18 kills and 10 digs. Radtke praised first year setter Grace Balensiefer’s ability to set up teammates as Balensiefer had career-highs of her own with 48 assists, eight kills and four blocks.

“A lot about hitting is transition work,” Radtke said. “[Balensiefer] puts up great balls and sees the block well. She puts me in a really good spot to hit the ball and be successful.”

NIU came out of the gates firing, scoring the first three points of the match before taking an 11-3 lead following back-to-back first year defensive specialist Kelsey Turskey service aces.

Western Michigan tallied five of the ensuing seven points to reduce its deficit to five. Successive Radtke and Kemp kills pushed the Huskies’ advantage to 15-8 before NIU outscored the Broncos 10-7 for the remainder of the opening set to take a 1-0 match advantage.

The two teams played to a 6-6 tie to start the second set before Western Michigan rattled off a 9-3 run to take a six-point lead. The Huskies retaliated with four consecutive points, but the Broncos scored four of the next five points to take a 19-14 advantage.

NIU went on another 4-0 run, which included two senior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz kills, reducing the deficit to one and forcing Western Michigan to call a timeout. The Broncos scored five of the next six points before knocking down the set deciding kill to tie the match 1-1.

The Huskies scored five successive points to tie the third set 11-11 after facing an early five point deficit. Western Michigan and NIU traded off points for the remainder of the set until Kemp and Balensiefer tallied back-to-back kills and Kemp notched her first career service ace to give the Huskies a 25-21 set win.

The Broncos took an early 6-5 advantage in the fourth set before three consecutive Radtke kills gave the Huskies an 8-6 lead. Western Michigan regained its lead following a service ace to go up 13-12. NIU responded with a 7-1 run to take a 19-14 advantage.

The Broncos reduced its deficit to two, but did not come any closer. The Huskies rattled off four consecutive points before Radtke knocked down the match deciding kill to cap off her career night and clinch the Huskies third MAC win of the season.

The volleyball team hit .457 in the fourth set and .325 for the entire match. NIU tallied 58 assists on 64 kills during its season-best offensive showing.

“[The offensive performance] shows what we’re capable of doing,” Gooden said. “Our group is working pretty hard in practice and understanding we have balance. We have people capable of doing things. They just have to put themselves in those spots and when they do, they get positive results.”

The volleyball team’s three-game winning came to a halt, as the University of Miami RedHawks swept NIU (25-18, 28-26, 25-18) for its first Mid-American Conference loss of the 2018 campaign.

Sunday, vs. Miami (Ohio)

The Huskies (5-14, 3-1 MAC) followed up their best offensive showing of the season versus the Western Michigan University Broncos Thursday with one of their worst offensive outputs against the RedHawks. NIU recorded 31 kills, 29 assists and a .104 hitting percentage, which were all within in the bottom-four of their respective statistical categories for the Huskies season.

“They did a nice job of slowing down our swings to the block and they already played really good defense,” Head Coach Ray Gooden said. “That’s where they were able to kind of slow us down.”

Miami jumped out to an early 5-1 lead after back-to-back NIU attack errors. The Huskies tallied five of the next seven points to reduce their deficit to one. The RedHawks gave themselves a three point cushion before three consecutive Miami errors brought the first set to a 12-12 tie.

The two teams traded off points until the RedHawks used a 7-1 run to close out the opening set with a 25-18 win.

NIU gained its first lead of the match early in the second set before giving Miami a 10-9 advantage. The Huskies responded with an 8-2 run to take a five point lead. The RedHawks sandwiched a sophomore outside hitter Jori Radtke kill with four points of their own to bring their deficit down to one.

NIU retaliated with successive Radtke kills before a Miami error that gave the Huskies to a 21-16 lead. The RedHawks battled back by outscoring NIU 9-5, preventing the Huskies from winning the set on three separate occasions and closing out the set with three successive kills to take a 28-26 set victory and a 2-0 match advantage.

“[The RedHawks] had some long rallies in that match today,” Gooden said. “They did a good job of winning a majority of those. But, when we had rhythm I thought we were doing some really good things. There were still moments we got stuck a little bit. We have to work to get through those things.”

Miami carried the momentum from the end of the second set into the third set by taking a 15-6 lead. NIU outscored the RedHawks 8-3 to reduce its deficit to four, but it was to no avail as it did not cut any deeper into Miami’s lead. The RedHawks won the third set 25-18 to end the Huskies winning streak.

Gooden said the Huskies strong start to MAC play raised their conference opponent’s awareness of their potential and talent.

“Oh, for sure, everybody respects everybody,” Gooden said. “We were the last undefeated team remaining, which just shows you how competitive our league is and how much we value home court.”

The Huskies will look to get back into the win column when they face the Eastern Michigan University Eagles 6 p.m. Friday and the Central Michigan University Chippewas 6 p.m. Saturday in Michigan.

“They’re going to be huge,” Gooden said. “Every match continues to grow with the level intensity of the match. Both teams are physical and we know no matter what the record is, it’s going to be tough battles on the board, especially on the road.”