MUNCIE, Ind. – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team (23-5, 15-1 MAC) defended its way to a five-set victory over Ball State (13-19, 9-7 MAC) as it tallied season-highs in blocks (20.5) and digs (101) Saturday night to claim a share of the Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship in five sets, 25-13, 23-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-12.

Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) recorded 19 kills and 10 blocks in the match to close the night with a game-best 26.5 points and her second career double-double. Anna Brereton (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) dug out a season-best 35 attacks against the Cardinals as NIU out-dug BSU in the match, 101-94. Blockers Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Lincoln) and Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) added nine and eight blocks, respectively.

After finishing with 12 kills on the night, Mary Grace Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) became the 22nd player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau in NIU volleyball history with her fourth kill of the match in the second set. Kelly is the 12th Huskie under Gooden to reach the mark and the first since Mackenzie Roddy in 2013.

"If there's any match that can prepare for us the MAC Tournament, it was this one. We knew that is really good home and everyone had something to fight for tonight so I thought it was great to have those storylines and it was just a battle back and forth. At some points, we had good control and in others, we didn't. We learned how to persevere at the end at that was great for our group," said Head Coach Ray Gooden.

The Huskies attacked with precision in the first set, hitting through and over the Cardinals block as they amassed 20 kills and a .419 hitting percentage. Defensively, NIU accrued four blocks and 19 digs in the opening stanza to hold the Cardinals to a .091 hitting percentage. Radtke totaled six kills and seven points in the frame to aid in the 25-11 first set victory.

Ball State fought back in the second set as it had a four-point edge, 12-8, as the media timeout loomed over the match. However, the Huskies closed the gap to one point until the Cardinals forced the break, 15-13. NIU continued to claw back despite Ball State's relentless attack, appearing to the tie the match with BSU at set point, 24-23, however, an error was called as Ball State tied the match, 25-23.

The Huskie block started strong in the third as they amassed four blocks in their first eight points of the third set, finishing with seven in the stanza en route to the 20.5 stuff night. It NIU's 13th double-digit night of the season. The performance was the Huskies best since 18 blocks at Central Michigan in 2014.

After taking the third set, 25-14, Ball State responded in the fourth set with a deuce set victory that forced a fifth set, 25-23.

Defense was the name of the game in the fifth set as the Huskies continued to block their way up the scoreboard, taking an 8-3 lead at the turn. However, the Cardinals cut the margin with a four-point run, 8-7, leaving the two teams to slug it out until the very end. Northern Illinois would prevail in the set to take the match, blocking Ball State's final attempt to clinch the fifth, 15-12.

The MAC Regular Season Championship is the program's fourth and it's first co-championship. NIU won its third outright regular season title in 2015, earning the right to host this season's MAC Tournament.

Northern Illinois University will host the Mid-American Conference Tournament Nov. 17-20 at Victor E. Court. Single-match tickets start at $10 while all-session passes are $30. Call (815) 753-PACK (7225) to purchase today or visit NIUHuskies.com. The NIU Athletics Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

NIU will play in the second match of Saturday's semifinal session, set to start at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday's semifinal matches, as well as the final, will air live on ESPN3 while all the first round and quarterfinal matches will be streamed on MAC-Sports.com.