The volleyball team won its second match of the 2018 season against the Marshall University Thundering Herd Friday during the Hampton Inn Bama Bash.

The Huskies (2-8) victory was sandwiched in between a loss to the Georgia Tech University Yellow Jackets (25-22, 31-29, 25-19) Friday and a defeat to the University of Alabama Crimson Tide (25-18, 25-22, 25-12) Saturday.

“I thought, at times, we did some things that were pretty positive,” Head Coach Ray Gooden said. “We had a chance to play for a championship for the first time this year. It was a very good experience for our group.”

Friday Game No.1 – Georgia Tech

NIU jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start its match against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets tied the set 5-5 after scoring four of the ensuing five points before the Huskies re-took an 11-10 advantage. The possession was thanks to a kill by sophomore middle blocker Kennedy Wallace. Georgia Tech went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-12 lead following a substitution by each team.

NIU capitalized off three Yellow Jacket errors, a sophomore outside hitter Amanda Rullan Vilanova kill and redshirt senior middle blocker Chrystal McAlpin kill to bring its deficit to one. Georgia Tech went up 21-18 before the Huskies rattled off four consecutive points to regain a 22-21 lead. The Yellow Jackets tallied four unanswered points to win the first set 25-22.

The Huskies went on a 9-4 run to take an early 10-9 lead after initially being down 5-1 to start the second set. The two teams exchanged points until Georgia Tech scored three consecutive points to go up 18-15 and NIU to call a timeout. The Huskies responded with a 4-0 run to take a one point lead.

NIU and Georgia Tech traded off points and tied the set nine times during the remainder of the round. The Yellow Jackets tallied the final three points of the set to win 31-29.

“When we started off against Georgia Tech, we were real hyped,” Gooden said. “We were ready to go and firing and we had to settle it down. We just have to take it one play at a time.”

The Huskies and Yellow Jackets played to a 6-6 tie before Georgia Tech notched seven successive points to take a 13- 6 advantage. NIU retaliated by scoring six of the ensuing seven points to reduce its deficit to two and force the Yellow Jackets to call a timeout.

Georgia Tech outscored the Huskies 7-2 after the timeout to gain a 22-16 edge. NIU used a 3-0 run to its deficit to three, however it was to no avail as the Yellow Jackets recorded the concluding three points of the set and swept the Huskies in the match.

Freshman setter Grace Balensiefer racked up a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs. Wallace tallied 11 kills with a team-high .421 attack percentage.

“I think [Wallace] had moments of doing some real good things again from one match to another,” Gooden said. “She did a nice job at the net with blocking and she also got some timely kills for us, especially in that Georgia Tech match.”

Friday Game No. 2 – Marshall

The Huskies jumped out to a 7-1 lead in their match against the Thundering Herd. NIU’s lead grew to 13-6 following back-to-back freshman middle blocker Jasmine Kemp and sophomore outside hitter Jori Radtke kills. Marshall outscored the Huskies 10-5 to reduce its deficit to two. The Thundering Herd did not come any closer as the Huskies went on a 6-2 run and Radtke scored the final kill of the set to give NIU the 25-18 victory.

Marshall dominated the early parts of the following round by scoring the opening nine points of the second set after four NIU errors.

The Huskies chipped away at the Thundering Herd’s lead and won 10 of the next 12 points to reduce their deficit to one. Marshall responded by going on a 7-3 run to go up 18-13.

NIU took control of the set from there by outscoring the Thundering Herd 7-1 to gain its first lead of the set, 20-19. Marshall regained a 21-20 advantage, however the Huskies went on to score the next four points and closed the set out with a Radtke kill to win the set 25-22. Radtke recorded 11 kills and nine digs on a career-high .440 hitting percentage in the match.

“I think Jori was just going out there and playing the game the way that she can play,” Gooden said. “She was having good rhythm and doing some really positive things. She is a very experienced hitter and handles the ball really well.”

The Thundering Herd took a 7-4 advantage before NIU scored three successive points to tie the third set 7-7. The two teams traded off points until Marshall went on a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 lead and force the Huskies to call a timeout.

NIU retaliated with an 8-2 run to take gain a 17-15 edge. The Thundering Herd brought their deficit down to one twice, but the Huskies scored four of the closing five points to win the set 25-21 for a match sweep.

Senior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz tallied a match-high 14 kills and Balensiefer led both teams in assists with 31. NIU recorded 12 blocks and held Marshall to a .116 hitting percentage for the match.

“Our Assistant Coach Amy Angelos does a lot of blocking so we continue to improve there,” Gooden said. “Our defensive tenacity continues to improve where saving a ball from hitting the floor allows us to still stay in the play.”

Saturday – Alabama

The Huskies concluded the Hampton Inn Bama Bash with a loss against the Crimson Tide.

Alabama jumped out to a 4-0 lead before NIU scored eight of the ensuing 11 points to take a 8-7 advantage. The two teams tied the set three times before the Crimson Tide scored four unanswered points to go up 14-10. The Huskies did not reduce their deficit to less than three for the remainder of the round and lost the opening set 25-18.

The second set started out with seven ties before the Crimson Tide scored four consecutive points to take a 14-10 lead. Alabama and NIU traded off 3-0 runs and exchanged points before the Huskies went on a 5-1 run to tie the set at 22. The Crimson Tide thwarted NIU’s comeback attempt by scoring the final three points of the set to win 25-22.

Alabama did not trail the Huskies at all in the third set. The Crimson Tide jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and dominated the remainder of the match. Alabama used a 9-2 run in the middle of the set to take a 22-8 advantage. NIU matched the Crimson Tide point for point for the remainder of the set until Alabama tallied the match clinching kill to sweep the Huskies 3-0.

The Huskies recorded a .082 hitting percentage against the Crimson Tide. None of the players on NIU tallied a hitting percentage above .200.

“When we handle the ball a little bit better, we have more opportunities to score,” Gooden said. “With so many folks in different spots, we are still trying to figure out the best situations by rotations and personnel.”

The Huskies will return to action when they face off against the Chicago State University Panthers 7 p.m. Tuesday at Victor E. Court. They will play back-to-back home games when they battle vs. the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 6 p.m. Wednesday.