Final Stats

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The NIU volleyball team (11-9, 7-1 MAC) went to the wire with Buffalo (3-17, 2-6 MAC) Saturday night as the Huskies defeated the Bulls in five sets, 25-21, 23-25, 27-25, 18-25, 15-8. NIU remains atop the MAC West Division as it won its fifth-straight match.

Multiple Huskies recorded new career-highs in the match as Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) recorded 38 digs, Alexis Gonzalez (Fresno, Calif./Bullard) set 63 assists and Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) recorded 27 kills.

Gonzalez also recorded a double-double, registering 13 digs. T'ara Austin (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) also recorded a double-double as she finished with 21 kills and 17 digs. Malia Gabel (Pinckney, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) finished with a career-high 18 digs.

“Buffalo did a good job of defending home court and we knew that it would be a competitive match,” said Head Coach Ray Gooden. “We experienced some things that we hadn’t seen in a while and we did some really things as a team to get the win.

“We knew that in order to be successful tonight, we needed some great individual performances and a lot people shined for us tonight and that was cool to see,” Gooden added.

NIU won the first, third and fifth sets, opening the contest with 25-21 victory to take a 1-0 lead. The Huskies totaled 19 kills and hit .239 in the stanza as Zielinski paced the squad with eight kills. Brereton had 12 digs in the set to lead the defense.

UB won the second set, 25-23, matching NIU’s .239 hitting percentage as Megan Lipski totaled six kills in the set.

Both teams came out strong after intermission as the two teams battled in the third set, maintaining a back and forth contest that forced a deuce set.

With NIU serving for match point, 25-24, the Bulls won a long run with the Huskies to tie the set, 25-25. NIU would not let the UB momentum take over as the Huskies won the last two points, taking the third set following an attacking error, 27-25.

Buffalo responded with vigor in the fourth set as they defeated the Huskies to tie the match and force a fifth set, 25-18. Experience proved the difference in the final set as NIU prevailed in the frame to win the contest, 15-8. The win improved the Huskies to 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference on the road this season and 7-1 overall.

Defensively, NIU totaled a season-high 109 digs as a team, as four Huskies recorded double figures in digs. Paige Dacanay (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) finished with 19 digs to round out NIU’s stellar performance.

The five set contest was Northern Illinois University’s second of the season, last going the distance on Sept. 19 versus Western Kentucky. The Huskies are now 1-1 in five set matches.

“Winning in the fifth set is always about getting off to a good start and playing hard every single point and we did that tonight. We were very fortunate to get off to that good start and grind out the win,” said Gooden.

NIU will return to action next Friday when it hosts Kent State at 7 p.m. on ESPN3. The Huskies will close the weekend against MAC leader Ohio Saturday night for a 7 p.m. Homecoming showdown with the reigning conference champion.