Jenna Radtke
The Northern Illinois University volleyball team had four players earn All Mid-American Conference honors Thursday.
Mackenzie Roddy (San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon), Alexis Gonzalez (Fresno, Calif./Bullard) and Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) were named First Team All-MAC and Shelby Seurer (Delano, Minn./Delano) was named to the All-Freshman team.
This marks the seventh consecutive season in which multiple Huskies collected All-MAC honors and the first time since 2011 that the Huskies got three first team selections. It also is the third-straight year that NIU has had someone on the All-Freshman team.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “It’s nice for those guys to get recognized by the coaches for their individual play and our team’s strong play this season.”
Roddy led the MAC with 4.60 kills/set and 5.16 points/set, while also ranking third on the team in blocks fifth in digs. She was one of only two players to earn both MAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors and was the only one to do so during the conference season.
In 16 MAC matches, Roddy notched double-digit kills in all but one match, while posting 20-plus spikes on six occasions during the conference season – including three-straight from Oct. 4 through Oct. 11.
Alexis Gonzalez
Gonzalez paced the Huskies and was third in the MAC with 11.05 assists/set and fourth in the conference with 0.38 aces/set. She guided the NIU offense that ended the conference season ranked second in hitting percentage (.256) and kills (13.98) and fourth in assists (12.70). Gonzalez was also second on the team with 2.44 digs/set and sixth with 0.43 blocks/set.
In MAC matches, Gonzalez recorded 11.00 assists/set or more in nine matches and 12.00 assists/set in five contests, including a season-high 58 against Miami (Oct. 4) and 56 at Toledo (Nov. 1).
Radtke led the Huskies and was sixth in the MAC with a .350 attack percentage, while also ranking seventh in the conference and second the team with 1.05 blocks/set. She sat second on the team in points and third in kills. Radtke recorded at least 1.00 blocks/set in seven matches, tallying eight stuffs at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 10) and seven against Central Michigan (Nov. 14).
She also posted a .350 hitting average or higher in seven matches, including a .778 average against Akron (Oct. 17) and a .714 average at Toledo (Nov. 1).
Shelby Seurer
Seurer was third in the MAC and tops for the Huskies with 1.18 blocks/set. She also ranked second for the Huskies with a .324 attack percentage and fifth with 1.36 kills/set.
The freshman finished the season strong by averaging 1.36 blocks/set and a .325 hitting average since Oct. 31. She recorded three or more blocks in each of the Huskies’ last six matches, including 10 against Central Michigan (Nov. 14) and seven at Ball State (Oct. 31).
Thanks to a double-bye, the Huskies open their MAC Tournament run Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT in the semifinals, where they will face Miami, Eastern Michigan or Kent State.
For more information on NIU volleyball and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
