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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Davidson College sophomore outside hitter Jackie Bardin attacks over the net against NIU graduate student right side hitter Isabelle Percoco and sophomore middle blocker Savanah Brandt during Saturday’s match at John M. Belk Arena in Davidson, North Carolina. The Huskies lost the match 3-1 for their first road defeat. (Tim Cowie | Davidson Athletics)

Huskies fall flat in road opener finale

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | September 2, 2023

As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end.” For NIU volleyball, that end came sooner than the Huskies might have hoped. NIU – fresh off its first win of the season Friday – was snuffed out on the final day of the Wildcat Classic...

NIU volleyball head coach Sondra Parys talks with her team courtside during the Huskies' season-opening match against Chicago State University on Aug. 25 at the NIU Convocation Center. Parys earned her first win as an NCAA Division I head coach Friday, a 3-2 victory over the University of North Carolina Wilmington. (Scott Walstrom | NIU Athletics)

Volleyball’s Sondra Parys bags first win as head coach

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | September 1, 2023

Four matches into her first season leading NIU volleyball, first-year head coach Sondra Parys has reached the first major milestone in her young coaching career: her first win. The Huskies outlasted the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks...

NIU junior middle blocker Charli Atiemo spikes the ball over the net during Saturday's matchup against University of Illinois. The Huskies dropped the match by a set score of 3-1. (Scott Walstrom | NIU Athletics)

Volleyball dazed in rematch with Cougars

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | August 27, 2023

DeKALB – Seeking its first win and a bit of vengeance, NIU volleyball was forcefully rebuffed by a familiar foe and remains winless to start 2023. The winless Huskies were plagued by the offensive onslaught dealt by visiting Chicago State University...

Senior setter Ella Mihacevich rises up to hit the volleyball in a Saturday matchup against the University of Illinois. (Scott Walstrom | Courtesy of NIU Athletics)

Volleyball begins Parys’ era winless

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | August 27, 2023

DeKALB – The debut of NIU volleyball’s first-year head coach Sondra Parys has come and gone, and the Huskies remain winless to begin the tenure of their new leader. More than nine months after missing out on a MAC Tournament bid by four tiebreakers...

NIU volleyball adds assistant coach Mackenzie Rombach

By Ethan Gonzales, Former Sports Editor | February 16, 2023

DeKALB – NIU women’s volleyball head coach Sondra Parys announced Thursday that the Huskies’ coaching staff is adding Mackenzie Rombach as an assistant coach. Rombach previously spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Jacksonville...

Middle blocker Savanah Brandt joins NIU volleyball as its first addition under new head coach Sondra Parys (Courtesy Belmont Athletics)

NIU volleyball adds Belmont transfer Savanah Brandt

By Northern Star Sports Staff | January 25, 2023

DeKALB – Sondra Parys, the newly-hired head coach of NIU volleyball, has made her first addition to the team’s roster as the program announced the signing of Savanah Brandt on Tuesday. Brandt, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, will join the Huskies as...

A graphic featuring a photo of NIU men’s basketball playing against Central Michigan University last week on Tuesday at the NIU Convocation Center. (Sean Reed | Northern Star)

IN PICTURES: Sports between the semesters

By Sean Reed, Photo Editor | January 16, 2023

Volleyball assistant Davidson bids farewell to NIU

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | January 14, 2023
"Joe" Davidson, the second-in-command to former NIU volleyball head coach Ray Gooden, says goodbye to Huskie country.
NIU President Lisa Freeman, NIU volleyball head coach Sondra Parys and NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Sean Frazier hold an NIU volleyball jersey bearing the No. 7, representing Parys' status as the Huskies' seventh head coach in program history. (Sean Reed | Northern Star)

NIU welcomes Sondra Parys to Huskie country

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | January 12, 2023

DeKALB – Standing at the podium in front of the crowd gathered at Victor E. Court during her first appearance as the new head coach of NIU volleyball on Tuesday, Sondra Parys shared a brief moment with her father, Joe. “I know you’ve always wanted...

Sophomore libero Francesca Bertucci serves during NIU's Mid-American Conference opener against the University of Akron Zips on Sept. 23. The Huskies earned their first win of league play after beating Akron 3-0. (Marco Sotelo Avila | Northern Star)

NIU 2022 digs leader Bertucci transfers to Bama

By Skyler Kisellus, Senior Sports Reporter | January 9, 2023

DeKALB – The 2022 Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year is SEC-bound after NIU volleyball libero Francesca Bertucci announced her commitment to the University of Alabama Sunday. Bertucci, who will be a junior in 2023, made the...

Former Loyola University Chicago assistant coach Sondra Parys was hired to lead NIU's volleyball program Thursday. (Loyola Chicago Athletics)

NIU tabs Sondra Parys to lead Huskie volleyball

By Northern Star Sports Staff | December 15, 2022
NIU Athletics has hired former Loyola Chicago assistant coach Sondra Parys to take the reins of its volleyball program.