DeKALB – Strong defense and volatile offense punched Northern Illinois University's ticket to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship as the Huskies (24-5) swept Ohio (16-14) in straight-sets Saturday night, 25-21, 25-16, 25-19. NIU amassed 13 blocks in front of an over-capacity crowd at Victor E. Court, setting a new attendance record.

Mary Grace Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) led NIU with 11 kills and 12.5 points in the match. Meg Wolowicz (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln) and Lauren Zielinski (Oak Forest, Ill./Marist) led at the net with seven and five blocks, respectively, while Zielinski added seven kills and hit .417 from the right side. MAC Player of the Year Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) also added seven kills.

After feeling the energy in the gym and seeing the fans lined up around the windows above Victor E. Court, Head Coach Ray Gooden was quick to point out the difference the fans made in tonight's atmosphere in the semifinals.

"Thank you fans for giving this place energy. That helped our team and for the atmosphere for all the teams that played in the semifinal today," said Gooden. "We've been dreaming of hosting this thing and for us to have that kind of support was great and I think our team fed off that energy tonight and that made a great experience for everyone."

While Huskie fans circled the wagons around Victor E. Court, filling the gym above capacity with 1,001 fans in attendance, the NIU defense built a wall around the net as they totaled seven blocks in the opening set.

After early NIU control in the first set, the Bobcats rallied back to within two points to force a Huskie timeout at 23-21. However, a kill by Zielinski put momentum back in NIU's corner as Taylor Krage (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) capped off her five-point set with the team's lone service ace to give Northern Illinois the first set.

"Our first contact helped us with our block and it helped us with our attacking as well so by handling the ball well that put us in good spots to be successful," Gooden added. "We watched Ohio last night and they were flying around and they continued that tonight so credit to (Head Coach) Deane (Webb) and his group. I just thought we were able to put them in some tougher situations and put them under pressure with our offensive tempo."

Krage returned in the second set as she served six-straight points for the Huskies to retain their first set mojo, 7-1. Errors cost NIU its early run to a double-digit lead as three of Ohio's first seven points in the set were via service error, allowing the Bobcats to climb within five, 12-7.

Northern Illinois finished strong in the stanza though as it totaled 15 kills to enter the locker room at intermission with a 2-0 lead after the 25-16 triumph. The Huskies continued its strong blocking numbers in the frame, tallying five more blocks to enter the third period with a 6.00 blocks per set average.

Hitting .387 in the second set and holding the Bobcats to a .032 clip, NIU continued to follow suit with its hitting as it amassed a .346 clip. Ohio finished the match with a .092 hitting percentage.

NIU closed the night with a 25-19 third set victory that clinched its second berth in the MAC Tournament final in as many years and its eighth overall.

First serve between the Huskies and Miami University, the tournament's No. 1 seed, is set for 5 p.m. Central. Doors open at 4 p.m. Tickets for the final match are $10 with all students from Mid-American Conference institutions receiving free admission to the match.