Gary, Ind. -- The Indiana University Northwest women's volleyball team won their seventh straight match on Saturday after the RedHawks swept Governors State in three sets in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest.

The RedHawks (11-3, 7-2 CCAC) defeated the Jaguars (5-18, 2-8 CCAC), 3-0, at the Savannah Center, Saturday. The scores were 25-12, 25-23, 25-16.

IUN bounced out to an early 15-7 lead after a kill by freshman Mary Markusic (Munster, Ind./Bishop Noll) and had control the entire first set. The RedHawks grabbed their biggest lead of the set after sophomore Emileishka De Jesus (Hobart, Ind./Portage) picked up back-to-back kills to give IUN a 14 point advantage then few moments later De Jesus ended the match with a kill to win the first set 25-12. 

The second set was a lot closer than any other. Freshman Bella Kuechenberg (Lowell, Ind./Bishop Noll) gave IUN one of their biggest leads of the match at 8-4 early on from the set from junior Caitlin Alwine (Goshen, Ind.). Freshman Alyssa Melendez (Portage, Ind./Portage) kept it a four point match after her service ace which made it 10-6. 

Governors State did not give in though, scoring the next seven out of the next nine points to take a 13-12 advantage. Both teams traded points back-and-forth to stay close with one another. 

With the score tied 18-18, the RedHawks scored back-to-back points to go ahead 20-18. Junior Maddie Maatman (Beecher, Ill./Illiana Christian) set it up to Markusic for the kill then two seniors hooked up on the next point as senior Cara Nebel (Portage, Ind./Portage) set up Robyn Griffin (Downers Grove, Ill./Lisle Senior) for the kill. 

The Jaguars made it interesting however scoring the next three points to make it 24-23 but a bad set by GSU gave IUN a second set victory at 25-23.

IUN looked to put away the match in the third set after winning the first two, however the Jaguars would not go away. The RedHawks led 7-6 in the early part of the third set but that was the closest GSU got the rest of the way.

However, Governors State made things interesting as the Jaguars cut it back down to three points. IUN had the answer right back scoring the next three points capped off with blocks by junior Erica Kik (Griffith, Ind./Griffith) and freshman Kila Stoudt (Eaton Rapids, Mich./Eaton Rapids) made it 18-12.

The Jaguars tried to crawl back cutting it back to four to make it 20-16. The RedHawks scored five points in a row to win the fifth set, 25-16.

De Jesus led the RedHawks with yet another double-double, recording 16 kills and 11 digs. Kuechenberg also recorded double figures on the attack as the freshman had 12 kills and one shy of a double-double at nine digs. 

Alwine led IUN on the defensive side, picking up 16 key digs. Kik was a huge force by the net as the junior recorded seven blocks. 

The two setters for the RedHawks had huge matches for IUN. Nebel had 18 assists while Maatman had 13.

The team had an impressive match on the attack. IUN hit a .402 as a team for the match including a staggering .519 in the third set. 

IUN returns to the volleyball court Tuesday, October 8 for their only match of the week as the RedHawks travel to Davenport, Iowa to take on the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees starting at 7 p.m. CT.