DeKALB | It’s not uncommon to have two players create a connection in practice, then have a standout performance where it’s plainly evident how dominant they can be.
Two of NIU’s volleyball players have created such a connection, and the results were on display Saturday night against Bowling Green.

Freshman setter Kristen Hoffman had a solid performance distributing the ball, tallying 25 assists, but the true standout was junior middle blocker Cassie Yates. The LaPorte, Ind., native made the most of her opportunities on her way to tallying career-highs in kills and attack percentage.

Yates recorded 11 kills on 14 attempts, with only one error for an attack percentage of .714, and was quick to give credit to Hoffman.
“I think our pass did really well tonight,” Yates said. “Kristen was really smart with her sets, she was making good decisions tonight, so Kristen and our passers were key.”

Sweetening the deal for Yates was having such a dominant match at home, where the Huskies have dominated their opposition this year.
“I think the crowd always helps,” Yates said. “It’s always fun to play at home with a huge crowd, and the band’s here and everyone’s cheering, it makes it so much easier.”

The Hoffman–Yates connection was key in a third set 15-4 run that helped seal the deal for NIU.
“Her [Hoffman] connection with Cassie was great tonight,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “I think it’d been building for the last couple matches, and then especially yesterday [Friday] at practice, so they made it a point to work well together and they did a great job.”

Yates’ energy level was on display throughout the match, helping to light a fire under her team and upping her own game as well.
“I just really think Cassie wanted it tonight,” Gooden said. “I’m not saying she hasn’t wanted it before, but I really think she just put her mind to it tonight and had some success early, had some success often.”

This kind of match has certainly been a long-time coming for Yates, as Gooden jokingly commented about Yates finally tallying over 10 kills.
“Her [Yates] confidence just soared,” Gooden said. “We were able to reward her for all the hard work she did by getting her the ball and her scoring.”

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