DeKALB - The NIU volleyball team grinded out a five-set triumph Saturday night against Toledo, winning the fifth set in deuce to record its ninth-straight victory, 25-14, 19-25, 25-15, 21-25, 16-14. The win was the Huskies first five-set win of the season.

The Huskies (14-4, 6-0 MAC) led the Rockets (10-8, 3-3 MAC) in all phases of the match, including digs (72-70), blocks (13-7), kills (60-59) and aces (7-2). Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) led the Huskies with 18 kills, a .471 hitting percentage, seven blocks and 23.0 total points.

"We expect every West Division match to be a battle and credit to (Toledo Head Coach) Greg Smith and his group, they really came out firing against. We did a good job in that first set but then they kept battling and battling until they were a step ahead of us," said Head Coach Ray Gooden. "It just came down to a couple of plays towards the end to win it in the last set."

Despite a 21-minute break in the first set due to a lineup protest by Toledo, the Huskies prevailed in the opening frame, 25-14, forcing the Rockets to hit -.040 in the frame.

Though the second set was nip and tuck early, tied 11-11, Toledo made a run to separate itself by five points late, 21-16, to go on to win the stanza by six, 25-19.  At the intermission, Radtke totaled eight kills, sharing the match lead with Toledo's Saige Thomas.

The Huskies battled back in the third set and won convincingly, 25-15, before Toledo responded in the fourth to force a fifth period, 25-21. NIU recorded six of its 13 blocks in the match in the third set.

Little separated the two teams as NIU and Toledo traded points to a 4-4 tie, until the Huskies went on to lead 11-7, and force a Rockets' timeout.

UT bounced back to within one point, 12-11, but Northern Illinois reached match-point first as a Toledo service error brought Mary Grace Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) to the line.

Back-to-back kills by Toledo - one by Thomas and another by Rachel Vidourek - tied the match at 14 and forced a deuce set.

A long service error by Lauren Bakaitis put match-point back in NIU's corner, where Taylor Krage (St. Charles, Ill/./St. Charles North) drove the final nail in the coffin and clinch the match for the Huskies, 16-14.

Kelly had another solid night on the attack, posting 16 kills in the match while leading NIU in service aces (4), three of which came in succession in the first set.

Defensively, Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) paced the Huskies in digs with 18 while Chandler Kinley (Lexington, Ky./Lafayette) helped in support with 12, in addition to her 27 assists. Sam Boever (Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert) also registered double-digit dig figures, recording her first career double-double with 23 assists and 10 digs.

Bri Horwath (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and Krage each finished with eight kills.

Northern Illinois University will close its current homestand next weekend when it hosts Buffalo and Akron next weekend. Friday's match versus the Bulls air live on ESPN3.