DeKALB - After dropping the opening set in deuce to Central Michigan (9-17, 3-11 MAC), the NIU volleyball team (21-5, 13-1 MAC) scrapped back in the final three sets to defeat the Chippewas on Senior Night, 23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-15.

Meg Wolowicz led NIU with offensively with 13 kills and a .524 hitting percentage while Jenna Radtke (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) stonewalled the Chips attack with seven blocks, leading the Huskies to a 12-block night.

"Central played really hard and they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future, they were just a step ahead of us in every phase in that first set. I just think we had a lot of emotion with everything that was going on but I thought it was good for us to settle down and we've gotten better over that period of time. We've improved at that little-by-little," said Head Coach Ray Gooden.

The energetic Chippewas paced the opening frame as the Huskies were forced to play catch up. Trailing 20-15, NIU closed the gap to one point, 23-22, as CMU committed errors and Taylor Krage (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) and Bri Horwath (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) pounded home on the attack. CMU would close the door on the set before NIU could complete the comeback, however, 25-23.

The Huskies responded to the opening set loss with 13 kills in the second stanza, hitting .387 with just one error. Though Central Michigan amassed 16 kills, it totaled six errors as Northern Illinois University tied the match at intermission with a 25-21 triumph.

The NIU defense found a rhythm in the third set as it forced the Chips to hit .059 while the Huskies service was at a premium with three aces. NIU finished the night with eight, paced by Kelly's four service aces in the match.

The Huskies beared down on the Chippewas in the final two sets as they won the sets in like 25-15 fashion, limiting CMU to an -.031 attack percentage in the fourth stanza.

With her seven blocks in the match, Radtke became just the ninth player in NIU history to register 400 blocks in a career as she finished the weekend with 401 career blocks.

NIU will close the regular season next weekend as it heads to Toledo and Ball State before returning home for the Mid-American Conference Tournament Nov. 17-20.